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Content...... 2 Welcome...... 3 Opening speech...... 4 Conference organizers...... 5 Timetable – Wednesday...... 11 Timetable – Thursday...... 12 Timetable – Friday...... 14 Timetable – Saturday...... 16 Timetable – Sunday...... 18 List of talks and speakers (1/2)...... 20 Map of the venue...... 42 List of talks and speakers (2/2)...... 44 Events...... 72 Special program items...... 74 Trips...... 78 Recommendations...... 81 About organizers...... 86

The Polyglot Gathering 2018 will take place under the auspices of:

Martina Lubyová, Minister of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic; Ivo Nesrovnal, mayor of Bratislava; Ferdinand Daňo, rector of the University of Economics in Bratislava; Juraj Droba, chairman of the Bratislava self-governing region.

The official organizer of Polyglot Gathering 2018 is E@I, a non-profit organization based in Slovakia, which coordinates various projects supporting language learning (lingvo. info, slovake.eu, lernu.net, deutsch.info, mluvtecesky.net, russky.info among others).

Polyglot Gathering 2018 has been prepared for you by:

Join us on twitter.com/PolyglotGat, tweet with #polyglotgathering For live updates from the organizers and participants use Telegram: https://t.me/polyglotgathering Welcome

Welcome 3

Welcome! / Ahojte! / Saluton!

We are so happy to welcome you all to the fifth edition of the Polyglot Gathering, held for the second time in Bratislava, Slovakia! It is the largest one so far, with more than 500 participants from more than 50 countries.

The Polyglot Gathering originated as an event held in 2014 by Judith Meyer, Chuck Smith and Martin Sawitzki. They loved the first Polyglot Conference in Budapest organized by Richard Simcott and wanted to create more opportunities for the polyglot community to meet, talk about languages, talk IN languages and just hang out with like-minded people.

Today, there is a large community of polyglots and language enthusiasts meeting regularly at language events such as the Polyglot Gathering, the Polyglot Conference (this year in Ljubljana, Slovenia) and LangFest (in Montreal, Canada). If you are new to it, welcome! If you’ve been to any of these events, welcome back! You’ll definitely recognize a few faces. (If you’re not sure what language you spoke with them – check their badge with the language flags! Who knows, you might have a new language in common since your last meeting...)

This year, we are gathering in Bratislava for the second time because last year’s participants loved it so much here. The Economics University gives us great opportunities to listen to interesting talks (which will be available on Youtube afterwards), participate in workshops (both language-related and non-language-related ones), enjoy lunches and dinners together in the canteen, dance at a multilingual concert, taste world’s specialties at the culinary festival, exchange books at the book-crossing zone, speak any language other than English at the No-English zone, play polyglot games etc. Many of you will take part in great trips both in and around Bratislava.

We can’t promise you the best weather for the whole 5 days but we can promise you FUN – as long as you are at least a bit open to meeting new people. You’ll see what a nice and welcoming community this is. Just go up to someone, look at their badge and ask them about any of the languages that you recognize from the flags. You’ll see how easy it is to start a conversation even with complete strangers if you know they have something in common with you – and we all do love languages!

This is the time and place for you to make new friends, get to know Bratislava, learn interesting stuff about languages, practise the ones you know and fully enjoy this Polyglot Gathering!

In the name of the whole team of individual volunteers, Lýdia Machová and Peter Baláž Opening speech

4 Opening speech

Dear polyglots, ladies and gentlemen,

it is of an utmost honor of mine to welcome you here now, again after a year, welcome you to Slovakia, a country in central Europe, which boasts a multilingual environment. It brightens my mood to see that after last year’s experience you decided to organize the event in Bratislava again. I believe, that also this time round, you will find many places and people of interest, hence reaching what you had set out for.

Surely enough, it has come to your attention that Slovakia presented an active attitude toward multilingualism during its presidency of the council of the EU, whilst a specific result of these activities was the so-called Nitra Declaration (“Nitrianska deklarácia”). Multilingualism is also an important topic within our education system, especially when linked up with the reality of things, that a large number of Slovak citizens associate themselves with a number of national minorities. Nowadays we therefore have schools where studies take place in Hungarian, Ukrainian, Rusyn, German or Bulgarian languages. We support the addition of another language apart from English at Secondary and High schools, where students can choose from German, French, Russian, Spanish and Italian. From each of the aforementioned languages we annually have students taking their high school leaving exams also for the given language.

The European Union is built on multilingualism and the ability to speak at least one foreign language should turn into a standard for all citizens of the Union. Free movement of labour and the Schengen Area have created unique opportunities in Europe allowing people to travel not only for work but also for their holidays and fun. At the moment this is a peerless opportunity to get to know new cultures and nations and to strengthen the subconscious in regards to the European Identity of us all.

Dear participants, allow me to wish you a pleasant stay in the capital and the most fitting of work atmospheres. I hope that what you take away with you is memories of lovely moments and the decision to come visit us again as well as a spark, a spark that will light the curiosity to get to know our culture and of course sights and monuments.

Martina Lubyová, Minister of Education, Science and Sport of Slovakia Conference organizers

Conference organizers 5

Lýdia Machová: Head organizer

Lýdia is a professional conference interpreter and language mentor from Slovakia. As an autodidact who learns a new language every two years, she believes the secret to language learning is finding the right method (for yourself) and keeping at it long enough in a systematic way. As a language mentor at www.languagementoring. com (www.jazykovymentoring.sk in Slovakia), she advises people to achieve just that. She currently speaks 9 languages (Slovak, Czech, English, German, Spanish, Polish, French, Esperanto, Russian in the order of learning). Peter Baláž: Head organizer

Peter is an Esperantist, publisher and editor; he was selected as the 2012 Esperantist of the Year. Baláž lives in his hometown of Partizánske and speaks, to various degrees, Slovak, Czech, German, Polish, Russian and English, as well as Esperanto. Peter is especially active in the international Esperanto movement and educational projects, and in 2005 he became the coordinator of E@I. He is also known as an organiser of international events (mainly, but not only, Esperanto-meetings). He is a former board member of Wikimedia Slovakia and, since September 2012, a member of its Revision Committee. He owns the Slovakia-based publishing firm Espero, founded in 2003, which publishes mainly Esperanto works. Dorota Rodzianko: Administration and finances

Dorota, 29, is from Poland and currently lives in Slovakia. She studied economics. Since 2010, she has been organizing international events in various European cities and countries. Since 2012, she has been mostly in charge of administration of participants and finances. She has experience in organizing events with 50 to 450 participants (she was also involved in the organization of a worldwide event with 1300 participants). Matthieu Desplantes: Web support

Matthieu is from France but has been living in Slovakia since October 2013. He studied computer engineering for five years in Paris and now works with both computers and languages. He speaks (to various degrees) French, Esperanto, English, Slovak and Russian, and has basic knowledge of a few more languages. He has been involved in the organization of several international events, most of which are related to Esperanto. 6 Conference organizers

Dimitris Polychronopoulos: Sponsor relations

Dimitrios has a Master of International Studies and a Global Executive Master of Business Administration. He has lived in countries as diverse as Greece, Taiwan, Norway, France, Spain, the USA and the Philippines. He has travelled to more than 100 countries, all seven continents and speaks 14 languages at different levels. At the Polyglot Gathering 2016, he launched yozzi.com, a platform for people to practice writing and editing in their target languages, which aims to become the lang-8 for advanced learners. Miroslav Šedivý, Michal Grodza: Volunteer coordinators

Miro was born in Bratislava just a few kilometers from the Iron Curtain which allowed him to secretly watch the cartoons on the Austrian TV and believe that the whole world behind the fence was speaking Austrian. Today he still doesn’t speak Austrian.

Michal Grodza was born in the eastern part of Slovakia and is able to speak French, Polish, English and Turkish. He developed his passion for languages as a child watching Cartooon Network. Even though he graduated as a teacher of English, he fell in love with non-formal education and works as youth couch and coordinator of multicultural youth exchanges and training courses.

Cesco Reale: Social program

A scientific communicator, Cesco deals with games, languages and maths, creating festivals, exhibitions and conferences. He speaks more than 10 languages, including Latin and Esperanto, and holds the IPA certificate in phonetics. He is also the UN representative for the World Esperanto Association and the creator of Limbas, language seminar in Italy.

Michal Nejeschleba: Trips

Michal is from Bratislava where he is active as a tour guide. His passions include hiking, history and languages, all of which he combines in his project Green Hat Tours. The resulting trips are a combination of hiking, networking and learning about local culture and history in fun & memorable ways. Conference organizers 7

Edoardo Nannotti: Design

Edoardo was born in 1985 in the Southeast tip of Italy. He is a programmer and a graphic designer. Not religious, but a believer in free knowledge and societies without hierarchy. He likes cooking, capoeira and art that can make you laugh and think at the same time.

Georg Jähnig: Videos manager

Georg from Berlin, Germany, was raised bilingual in German and Polish. He studied computational linguistics and spent an exchange year in Prague where he learnt Czech by getting his driver’s license, later enriched by painstakingly studying Slovak rap music. As a hobby polyglot, he learns by watching good TV shows in foreign languages, and so he got some working understanding also in Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Russian and French. Re-Becoming an esperantist in 2015, he created a short online course to learn the language. He works as a freelance web developer and blogger and when he heard that 2014’s Berlin Polyglot Gathering had no video recordings planned yet, he volunteered to organize them. And it is in this role he will be again this year. Jiti Dias: Project manager, social media marketing

Jiti comes from Prague and her official Czech name is Jitka. She has studied and worked in Prague, Brussels, Vienna, Turku, Munich and Lisbon and now has been living for 3 years in Berlin, working in HR & Marketing and organizing career events at universities. She only found out about the polyglot community in May 2017 after attending the Polyglot Gathering in Bratislava but since then she’s been very passionate about meeting other polyglots and exchanging ideas and made a lot of amazing new friends. She can speak 8 languages at a different level of fluency and is currently studying 3 more at a beginner’s level. Ellen de Visser: Social media

Ellen is born in the Netherlands, but is doing a BA in German and French in Berlin. Currently she is studying in Prague and has lived and studied in some other countries as well. She works as a freelance translator with the languages Dutch, German and English, but is interested in learning Slavic and Asian languages too. Ellen enjoys speaking at language events and is part of the marketing team of this year’s Polyglot Gathering. 8 Conference organizers

L. Barone-Adesi: Program

Polyglot, tech geek, and travel enthusiast. Program coordinator of the Polyglot Gathering. Happy to lend a hand to participants with any issues that come up during the Gathering!

Elisa Polese: Sponsor relations

Elisa is a professional language teacher and language enthusiast. She teaches Italian, German, English, Spanish, Russian, French, Dutch, Catalan, Portuguese, Greek, Hindi, Arabic and Esperanto (at different levels). She is specialised in multilingual teaching (up to 10 languages in one course) and is a certified language examiner for English, Italian, Russian, French, German and Spanish. She has been teaching and living in several countries, holds two BAs in Translating and Interpreting, a MA in International Communication and a MA in Didactics. She often gives presentations about language learning, multilingual teaching and learning, intercultural communication and organises workshops where you can start speaking one or more languages from the very first moment and have your first conversation after a few minutes (www.speakfromdayonewithelisa.com). She is also a language coach and can help you improving quickly in your languages. Conference organizers 9

Volunteers from E@I The volunteers from the organization E@I also help organizing the Polyglot Gathering 2018 as part of their European Voluntary Service, co-financed by the European Union. David Mamsch: Administration

David doesn’t like languages. He does, however, very much like to get in touch with interesting people from all over the world. Speaking German, Esperanto and English, he currently struggles devotedly with the beauty of the Slovak language and its marvelous cases.

Sofia Zaretskaia: Social program and invitations

Sofia is a young inspiring lawyer from Moscow, with fiery hair that perfectly represents the personality of this self-driven individual carrying an innate interest and love for sloths, dogs and all those beautiful little “weirdnesses” only life knows how to do.

Ekaterina Lozina: Program booklet, on-site help

You can call her Miri. She is an esperantist volunteering in Slovakia. She likes to meet people from different countries and also wants to speak five languages at least but she is too lazy to learn. Hopefully the event will help her to improve her knowledge and to start learning more.

Kryštof Klestil: On-site help

Kryštof was born in Czechia and grew up in the northern part of London. He’s one of the few people in Slovakia to have experience teaching English using the “famed but undiscovered” SpeakYourMind method, five years in total. His interests and skills range from 3D modelling and knitting to eating with chopsticks, travelling but most of all it’s meeting people, seeing what makes them tick, understanding life from their experiential and perceptual set of values as presented by their current state of mind. Being more-or-less bilingual, languages have always been a part of his life.

Polyglot Gathering 2018 in Bratislava is being prepared in cooperation with Judith Meyer and Chuck Smith, the initiators of the Polyglot Gathering event series and head organizers of the first three editions of the Polyglot Gathering in Berlin. 10 Timetable – Wednesday

Timetable – Wednesday 11

Time Speed polyglotting and 13:00- language meeting game Free mingling 18:00 Cesco Reale, Vanessa Berger, Ekaterina Lozina 18:00- Dinner 19:30 Registration 19:30- Opening ceremony 20:30 20:30- More polyglot games 22:00 Cesco Reale, Miroslav Šedivý

Join our free Mandarin and Slovak italki language lessons at the Polyglot Gathering this year between 4pm and 4:45pm on June 3 2018.

For speciﬁc room and time-slot details, ask upon arrival at reception. We look forward to seeing you there!

Get $10 USD in italki Credits when you purchase your ﬁrst lesson! Visit italki.com and use promo code: PG2018italki (valid until June 30 2018) [email protected] Timetable – Thursday

12 Timetable – Thursday

Room 1. Language mentoring Room 2. E@I Room 3. uTalk Room 4. Assimil Room 5. Amikumu Room 6. Esperanto Time Non-language workshops / Non-language workshops / English talks Non-English talks Language workshops More talks More talks Social events Current challenges for Fast Track Language 9:00- Learning (p. 38) multilingualism policy in the EU (p. 31) Polyglot breakfast (p. 76) 10:00 Judith Meyer Emília Andrejová

Introduction to Warlpiri: Das Schlesische und An Indigenous Language Лингвистическая игра для 10:00- seine deutschen Einflüsse полиглотов “Знаете ли вы from Australia’s Northern Special panel discussion: 11:00 (p. 50) Speaking from day one: пословицы на 11 языках Territory (p. 24) How to improve language Małgorzata Długosz an interactive multilingual (RU, SK, EN, FR, ES, IT, Brian Loo Soon Hua education (not only) in the lesson (p. 30) DE, UK, BE, EO, LA)?” EU? Challenges, problems, Love in the mirror of La géographie et histoire Elisa Polese Linguistic game “Proverbs solutions (p. 75) 11:00- languages throughout the des langues européennes in 11 languages” (p. 67) 12:00 centuries (p. 21) (p. 56) Tatiana Mozhniakova Aleksandar Medjedovic Niels Johannes Legarth Iversen ¿Chili sin o con carne? How it all works: insights Как полиглоты учат Die Sprachenfrage in Europa: Introduction into Russian The Polyglot Singalong Qué pasa con el mundo 12:00- into the nature of language языки. Обзор разных Chancen, Gefahren und by means of folk dance (FR, ES, IT, EN) (p. 57) Zukunftsperspektiven eines cambiando a una dieta 13:00 learning (p. 35) методов (p. 64) vegana / basada en plantas. (p. 29) Olivia Sumich English-only Europe (p. 58) Grigory Kazakov Ruslan Kokorin (p. 37) Egor Anosov Oscar Hughes Jitka Vršovská (aka Jiti Dias) 13:00- 15:00 Lunch Lunch Nárečové projekty The Bengali Language Are they so similar? / Jsou Slovenského národného 15:00- (p. 70) podobné či ne? (p. 23) korpusu: Korpus nárečí 16:00 SNK a Archív nárečí SNK Timothy McKeon Anastasiia Martynenko (p. 39) A practical workshop in the Programmiersprachen Katarína Gajdošová GoldList method (p. 27) für Polyglotten: eine Tibetan Indigenous David J. James Einführung (p. 55) Rôznorodosť slovenských Grammar in Colloquial La lectura extensiva: el (and Lýdia Machová) Miroslav Šedivý Tibetan – Taught via Zoom: zemepisných dialektov na 16:00- método polígloto por Slovensku a v jazykových 17:00 A synthesis of tradition and excelencia (p. 38) modernity (p. 32) enklávach vo svete (p. 39) Joanna van Schaïk Katarína Balleková Franziska Oertle

Start-up talks: Lexical Polyglot Punning / Ukrainian with Disney Secret Missions when you Find Your Why, Your Goal 17:00- Multlingve vortludumi visit a Target Language Computing (Marek Blahuš, (all levels) (p. 52) Depends On It! (p. 32) Aligatorejo (p. 77) 18:00 p. 51) and Amikumu (p. 40) country (p. 63) (Chuck Smith, p. 26) Kelvin Jackson Marta Melnyk Rick Dearman Francesco Samarelli 18:00- 19:30 Dinner Dinner 19:30- 21:00 International Culinary Festival (p. 73) International Culinary Festival (p. 73) 21:00- Polyglot karaoke (p. 73) Polyglot karaoke (p. 73) 22:00 Olivia Sumich, Marta Melnyk, Cesco Reale Olivia Sumich, Marta Melnyk, Cesco Reale Timetable – Thursday 13

14 Timetable – Friday

Bet you can’t pronounce it 5 Methoden um in einem Indo-Aryan for Slavic Language is in the ear, not Viertel der Zeit eine the eye: Why learning to 10:00- (p. 25) Fremdsprache fließend zu Speakers: from Sanskrit to read too soon ruins your 11:00 Brian Loo Soon Hua, Hadrian sprechen (p. 33) Romani (p. 44) accent (p. 45) Rachwał Gabriel Gelman Kevin Fei Sun Kyle Kuzman Chinese and Japanese Shanghainese: calligraphy (p. 59) Shy perfectionists can learn, Apprenants intermédiaires, A Comparative Approach/ Oung-Heng Heng too: How to learn languages Deconstructing language 11:00- démoralisation et 用历史比较语言学学说上 despite your internal (p. 65) 12:00 démotivation (p. 63) 海话 struggles (p. 51) Simon Ager Rick Dearman (p. 44) Maria Spantidi Kevin Fei Sun Polyglots Dance Around the World How many languages (FR, ES, IT, EN) (p. 57) do you speak or know? The Numbers Game Najczęstsze błędy Polaków Journey through the history Olivia Sumich Почему русские смеются? Polyglots: the Beginning 12:00- – Examining Foreign uczących się języka of Language Learning (p. 22) (EN, EO, RU) (p. 61) 13:00 Language Proficiency and węgierskiego (p. 67) (p. 64) Anastasiia Lbova Petr Fedosov Relative Language Difficulty Szabolcs Szilva Santiago Diossa Muñoz (p. 69) Timothy Dean Keeley 13:00- 15:00 Lunch Lunch Rescued from extinction: Principles of accelerated Introduction to Pashto/ Music Language Learning 15:00- uTalk’s Manx workshop language learning (p. 35) Pakhto (p. 23) (p. 45) 16:00 (p. 28) Grigory Kazakov Bartłomiej Janiczak Kyle Kuzman Dick Howeson Sácale todo el jugo a tus sesiones de español Wikitongues: Preserving Mehrere Sprachen parallel (p. 55) Languages and Talking to Why Hungarian is Easy lernen und gleichzeitig The Language of Aviation 16:00- Nacho Caballero Strangers (p. 71) (p. 45) pflegen (p. 62) (p. 34) 17:00 Timothy McKeon and Irena Kyle Kuzman Philippe Gagneur, André Gavan Fantom Dahl Herling Comparaison entre Language of reindeer Can you learn a language deux langues planifiées: Teochew: the other Minnan 17:00- herders: uTalk’s Southern while sleeping? (p. 47) Rumantsch Grischun et Chinese (p. 59) 18:00 Saami workshop (p. 28) Luca Sadurny Esperanto (p. 54) Oung-Heng Heng Dick Howeson Mireille Grosjean 18:00- 19:30 Dinner Dinner 19:30- Multilingual concert Multilingual concert 20:30 Jonny M Jonny M Timetable – Friday 15

16 Timetable – Saturday

Room 1. Language mentoring Room 2. E@I Room 3. uTalk Room 4. Assimil Room 5. Amikumu Room 6. Esperanto Time Non-language workshops / English talks Non-English talks Language workshops Non-language workshops / Social events More talks More talks 9:00- Polyglot breakfast (p. 76) 10:00 (Re)Learning a Heritage Creanguages. Learning new Language: How Hindi (and Introduction to Walloon Brazilian Portuguese Suomalais-ugrilaiset kielet 10:00- other languages) Helped words by writing songs and (FR) (p. 66) Phonology (p. 79) (p. 40) 11:00 Improve My Shanghainese poetry (p. 23) Simon Lejeune Fábio Nogueira Kelvin Jackson (p. 44) Arina Korchkova Kevin Fei Sun A structured approach to An Introduction to the La recette des apprentis Arabic with Romanized 11:00- online language teaching Persian Language through polyglottes (p. 25) letters (p. 24) 12:00 integrating LingQ and other Singing (p. 62) Cécile Plecenik Bojana Zlatić online resources (p. 47) Renate Hafemann English: What? Where? When? Esperanto: Kio? Kie? Learn to knit better than The Importance of Kiam? Russian: Что? Где? your grandma (p. 45) Affect (Emotions) When Mitoj de poliglotoj aŭ kial Когда? (p. 61) Canada – A Multilingual Kryštof Klestil 12:00- Functioning in Foreign la tuta homaro ne estas Petr Fedosov Country (With 2 Official 13:00 Languages and Cultures plurlingva (p. 60) Languages) (p. 53) (p. 69) Peter Baláž Matthew Schleifer Timothy Dean Keeley 13:00- Lunch Lunch 15:00 “I’m Not Dead Yet!” Waking Interpreters at Work Learn how to pronounce (p. 48) 15:00- the Sleeping Language of German correctly with the Aligatorejo (p. 77) 16:00 Tunica (p. 27) Madeline Vadkerty, Lissie IPA (p. 30) Doerrer, Vahagn Petrosyan and Dave Prine Sayf Camran Introduction to Esperanto Meditado – kial kaj kiel ĝin Ellen de Visser in 100 minutes (p. 69) praktiki? (p. 60) Language Mentoring Neuro-plasticità Tim Morley Peter Baláž two years later: No one is e implicazioni So You Want to Build a 16:00- taught, everyone is learning! nell’apprendimento delle Language App? (p. 31) 17:00 (p. 47) lingue (p. 66) Eugenio Grapa Lýdia Machová Stephen Artinian

Following the News in Fizikaj ekzercoj por A Talent for Languages Five Languages: An App, Keyboard Layout for 17:00- ĉekomputilaj homoj (p. 63) Lightning talks (p. 75) A Research Project, and an Polyglots (p. 21) 18:00 (p. 29) Richard Simcott Invitation (p. 54) Adam Libuša Mircea Lungu Ekaterina Lozina 18:00- Dinner + speakers’ dinner Dinner + speakers’ dinner 19:30 20:00- International Culture Evening (p. 73) International Culture Evening (p. 73) 22:00 Timetable – Saturday 17

18 Timetable – Sunday

Room 1. Language mentoring Room 2. E@I Room 3. uTalk Room 4. Assimil Room 5. Amikumu Room 6. Esperanto Time Non-language workshops / English talks Non-English talks Language workshops Non-language workshops / Social events More talks More talks 9:00- Polyglot breakfast (p. 76) 10:00 The three-part strategy for Adapter un “Bullet Journal” How I learned 2000 Chinese Language learning with 10:00- improving listening skills pour l’apprentissage des characters in 50 days, and Language challenge: Sports (p. 68) 11:00 (p. 71) langues (p. 53) you can too (p. 59) Esperanto (p. 76) Tervel Zwjatkow Tran Quang Hung Maryline Lengert Pablo Román L’utilisation de nos talents linguistiques pour créer un Get to know one of most Don’t be intimidated by The Talent Question 11:00- monde plus tolérant : l’étude beautiful languages in the Language challenge: Slovak Asian languages! (p. 36) (p. 34) 12:00 de documents concernant world (Turkish) (p. 37) for Slavic speakers (p. 76) Jana Fadness Gareth Popkins l’Holocauste (p. 48) Jarosław Szemet Madeline Vadkerty Dance is the language of the soul (p. 52) Finally, a new logika The Concept of Mapping Marta Melnyk 『らくらくでペラペラよ!』: système de transliteración Slavic inflections: An applied to Foreign Language Language challenge: Slovak 12:00- Japanese through for Chinês: il Mandarino introduction to Russian and Acquisition – for non-Slavic speakers 13:00 onomatopoeia! (p. 37) was never so simpla! Polish languages (p. 57) 论映射在外语习得中的应用 (p. 76) Jennifer Geacone-Cruz (p. 26) Olga Diacova (p. 35) Cesco Reale Hadrian Sebastian Rachwał 13:00- Lunch Lunch 15:00 The Austronesian Languages: The Family Les grands espaces Hand Off, Headphones that Spread from China’s 15:00- linguistiques du monde On: Don’t Miss Out On Southern Coast to Aligatorejo (p. 77) 16:00 (p. 56) Learning a language Language Podcasts (p. 41) Madagascar and Polynesia Nicolas Viau through “authentic Kerstin Cable (p. 24) listening” of songs: a Brian Loo Soon Hua workshop about Italian When will AI powered (p. 28) voice-bots replace humans Davide Bozzo italki: Mandarin and Slovak 16:00- in language teaching? Lightning talks (p. 75) demonstration lessons 17:00 (p. 64) (p. 36) Silver Ilves 17:00- Closing ceremony Closing ceremony 18:00 18:00- Dinner Dinner 19:30 Timetable – Sunday 19

Room 1. Language mentoring Room 2. E@I Room 3. uTalk Room 4. Assimil Room 5. Amikumu Room 6. Esperanto Time Non-language workshops / English talks Non-English talks Language workshops Non-language workshops / Social events More talks More talks 9:00- Polyglot breakfast (p. 76) 10:00 The three-part strategy for Adapter un “Bullet Journal” How I learned 2000 Chinese Language learning with 10:00- improving listening skills pour l’apprentissage des characters in 50 days, and Language challenge: Sports (p. 68) 11:00 (p. 71) langues (p. 53) you can too (p. 59) Esperanto (p. 76) Tervel Zwjatkow Tran Quang Hung Maryline Lengert Pablo Román L’utilisation de nos talents linguistiques pour créer un Get to know one of most Don’t be intimidated by The Talent Question 11:00- monde plus tolérant : l’étude beautiful languages in the Language challenge: Slovak Asian languages! (p. 36) (p. 34) 12:00 de documents concernant world (Turkish) (p. 37) for Slavic speakers (p. 76) Jana Fadness Gareth Popkins l’Holocauste (p. 48) Jarosław Szemet Madeline Vadkerty Dance is the language of the soul (p. 52) Finally, a new logika The Concept of Mapping Marta Melnyk 『らくらくでペラペラよ!』: système de transliteración Slavic inflections: An applied to Foreign Language Language challenge: Slovak 12:00- Japanese through for Chinês: il Mandarino introduction to Russian and Acquisition – for non-Slavic speakers 13:00 onomatopoeia! (p. 37) was never so simpla! Polish languages (p. 57) 论映射在外语习得中的应用 (p. 76) Jennifer Geacone-Cruz (p. 26) Olga Diacova (p. 35) Cesco Reale Hadrian Sebastian Rachwał 13:00- Lunch Lunch 15:00 The Austronesian Languages: The Family Les grands espaces Hand Off, Headphones that Spread from China’s 15:00- linguistiques du monde On: Don’t Miss Out On Southern Coast to Aligatorejo (p. 77) 16:00 (p. 56) Learning a language Language Podcasts (p. 41) Madagascar and Polynesia Nicolas Viau through “authentic Kerstin Cable (p. 24) listening” of songs: a Brian Loo Soon Hua workshop about Italian When will AI powered (p. 28) voice-bots replace humans Davide Bozzo italki: Mandarin and Slovak 16:00- in language teaching? Lightning talks (p. 75) demonstration lessons 17:00 (p. 64) (p. 36) Silver Ilves 17:00- Closing ceremony Closing ceremony 18:00 18:00- Dinner Dinner 19:30 List of talks and speakers

List of talks and speakers Almost 100 interesting talks and workshops about languages and linguistics, language learning, language policy and life as a polyglot. Find all speakers in alphabetical order. List of talks and speakers 21

Adam Libuša

Adam Libuša is a software engineer, enterpreneur, polyglot and language learner, traveller, sci-fi lover and popular science enthusiast. Between 2012 and 2017, he has lived in seven different European countries with the goal of fulfilling his dream to become a polyglot. Currently resides in Bratislava and works in Vienna. In order to facilitate the written usage of the languages he had learnt, he developed and is actively promoting the keyboard layout for polyglots.

Keyboard Layout for Polyglots Saturday, 17:00 You like typing correctly and with diacritical marks in each of your languages, but are tired of switching over between the keyboard layouts? This talk introduces a keyboard layout that is trying to simplify the life of polyglots. Its basis is the classic English QWERTY layout, so its learning curve is very mild. With numbers replaced by diacritical dead-key combination keys, you will be able to type in English, Czech, Slovak, Portuguese, German, Spanish, French, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian, Esperanto, Italian, Breton, Catalan, Croatian, Danish, Estonian, Finnish, Indonesian, Irish (if you don’t require the obsolete dot above—ponc séimhithe), Norwegian, Scottish Gaelic, Serbo-Croatian, Slovenian, Swedish, Welsh and in Mandarin Pinyin. All that with one single keyboard layout. Aleksandar Medjedovic

Born in Germany and educated in Germany and France, Aleksandar Medjedovic is an Economist of Yugoslavian origin. He has been living in Turkey for the last 20 years and works as a Consultant for Foreign Investments, Business Development and Media Issues. He keeps close personal and professional links to all countries that resulted from Yugoslavia, but also to Germany, and puts those links into his own global context whenever possible. His mother tongues are German and BCS (Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian). He also speaks English, French, Spanish, Turkish, Italian, Russian and a few more.

Love in the mirror of languages throughout the centuries Thursday, 11:00 The matter of Love has a special place in each language. Some people even say that Love is the most important part of a language: it reflects how feelings, emotions and deep human impact is incorporated into people’s minds and also gives a deep insight into the psychology of entire nations. From shy expressions of first adolescent feelings, up to strong outpours of burning desires (with ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ only being one example…) – if a language has the ability to reflect the feelings of Love, it is considered a language close to our heart. This lecture aims at: -Looking at the subject of Love from the perspective of different languages -Comparing ‘Western’ and ‘Eastern’ languages of Love – from English to Russian to Japanese 22 List of talks and speakers

-Weighing if French language has a special place -Or are maybe Romance languages overall subscribed to Love? -Why despite their superficial ‘harshness’ Nordic languages are quite romantic languages -Giving an idea of how the language of Love has developed through the centuries -Showing abstract varieties of Love in today’s modern languages -Reflecting Love through different languages and dialects Participants will get an insight into how deeply Love penetrates the languages we speak and how much in influences us in the way we express ourselves in a language. They will discover new ways of falling in Love in a language they speak or a language they would wish to learn. Anastasiia Lbova

Being born in a remote town in Siberia Anastasiia has been fascinated by foreign languages from an early age, yet had no opportunity to learn them with the help of teachers or internet. So she started learning the first 6 languages on her own before entering the Linguistic University in Irkutsk. Currently she speaks more than 15 languages, 6 of which she is teaching in Moscow. Besides, she takes part in different language festivals and online language conferences and helps people learning foreign languages through her youtube channel.

Почему русские смеются? Friday, 12:00 Вам знакома следующая ситуация? Вы изучаете какой-то иностранный язык в тече- ние некоторого времени, у вас уже достаточно большой словарный запас, что позво- ляет вам общаться вполне эффективно. Однако, когда вы находитесь в компании носителей языка, кто-то что-то говорит и все начинают смеяться или показывать другие сильные эмоции. Вы знаете все слова в этой фразе, но не можете понять, что же в ней такого особенного. Ответ таков: в основе таких фраз могут лежать определённые социальные или культурные сообщения. Я провела исследование и выбрала 20 самых распространенных выражений русского языка, понятных всем русским. Но они не понятны изучающим язык, которые не имеют постоянного контакта с культурными реалиями России. Эти выражения взяты из фильмов, книг, песен, даже из рекламных роликов. Приглашаю всех интересующихся рус- ским языком и культурой на презентацию. Вы сможете насладиться интересным видео и научиться использовать эти выражения в своей речи!

Internationale Messe für Sprachen und Kulturen 16. – 17. November 2018 RHWK • Friedrichstraße 176–179 • E-Mail: [email protected] www.expolingua.com List of talks and speakers 23

Anastasiia Martynenko

- Graduate of Moscow State University (2015) - Interpreter - Certified teacher of Russian and Czech as foreign languages - Author of a coursebook “Czech without tutor” for Russian speakers (Moscow, 2018) - Russian, English, Czech, Serbian, Slovak and Portuguese speaker and learner

Are they so similar? / Jsou podobné či ne? Thursday, 15:00 Některé jazyky se považují za podobné a zdá se, že když člověk umí jeden z nich, tak ostatní se lehce a rychle naučí. Ve svém projevu budu mluvit o slovanských jazycích. Můj mateřský jazyk je ruština, moje čeština je C1 a srbština – B2. Navíc ted’ studuju slovenštinu a občas se mnou kamarádi mluví ukrajinsky. Během projevu projednáme malé rozdíly a velké shody tak podobných jazyků (zejména češtiny a slovenštiny), které můžou poplést hlavu každému, kdo bude chtít je studovat a tajemství, co v tom studiu vždy pomáhají. Arina Korchkova

Arina is a traveller and a language lover. She has lived in the USA for a year and in Argentina for 10 months. Arina makes language courses that are very fun and creative. Her students learn new words and grammar by writing songs and poetry, teaching yoga in Instagram, drawing and cooking food.

Creanguages. Learning new words by writing songs and poetry. Saturday, 10:00 In this workshop you will fall in love with learning new vocabulary. Yes! One of the hardest things that many of us try to avoid can actually be super fun. You don’t have to be the best singer or author, you don’t even have to know this language! All you need is a list of new words that you want to learn and a positive thinking =) Bartłomiej Janiczak

Bartłomiej is a student of Middle Eastern languages and cultures, mainly Arabic and Farsi (at the time being). Apart from tongues, he is interested in literature, theater and social sciences. He wants to study, describe and juxtapose different Arabic dialects and pro- mote cross-cultural dialogue in the modern world. His dream is to show people how important it is for us to be able to look at what and who surrounds us from many different perspectives, as well as how one can achieve that through studying languages and cultures. 24 List of talks and speakers

Introduction to Pashto/Pakhto Friday, 15:00 It doesn’t actually matter how you pronounce Pashto and what grammar you use, as long as you’re speaking fluently. You can always blame dialectical variety for all the possible errors”. That was a joke (was it?) that my professor started our Pashto classes with. This fascinating language spoken by large communities in Afghanistan and Pakistan has its place on the map in the middle of the Indo-Iranian world. It is a hard nut to crack, but also an incomparable pleasure. Let’s immerse ourselves into the dialectal mishmash that, together with peculiar beauty of retroflex sounds, builds up a reach tongue which surprises its learner every step they take. Brace yourselves, Pashto is coming down from the slopes of Hindu Kush to meet you in Bratislava! Bojana Zlatić

Bojana is a polyglot from Serbia who speaks English, Arabic, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian. She holds MA in linguistics. Researching various language aspects, she is particularly interested in sociolinguistics and cognitive linguistics. She is a language teacher, language mentor, a tutor, a translator and a blogger. She also organizes language and conversational workshops dedicated to certain topics. Apart from being a language nerd, she is an avid traveler, a yoga enthusiast and she also enjoys reading, dancing and singing.

Arabic with Romanized letters Saturday, 11:00 Bojana’s speech provides insight into writing systems in Arabic, with a special focus on Arabic with Romanized letters (Latinized Arabic or Arabish) . It explores computer mediated communication, since it started as an online discourse of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, chat groups, blogs, forums, e-mails etc. However, currently is being used in more domains, not just online communication. First, we are going to show its characteristics – how Arabic phonemes are converted into Roman letters or numerals. Then, we are going to mention how and when it is used. In conclusion, we are going to discuss the problems arising from this so called digraphy, for example code-switching as well as emerging and developing new features in Arabic-speaking countries. Brian Loo Soon Hua

Introduction to Warlpiri: An Indigenous Language from Australia’s Northern Territory Thursday, 10:00 Close to 300 languages were spoken in the continent of Australia at the time of European settlement. Today, slightly over 100 of these languages are still spoken and the majority are at risk of extinction. This lecture will serve as an introduction to Warlpiri, one of the more viable indigenous languages still spoken in Central Australia today. Warlpiri has a phonology and grammar very different from List of talks and speakers 25

more familiar European and Asian languages, including a complex split-ergative syntax as well as context-determined ceremonial language and avoidance registers. General features of other indigenous Australian languages will also be discussed.

The Austronesian Languages: The Family that Spread from China’s Southern Coast to Madagascar and Polynesia Sunday, 15:00 In Pre-Columbian times the Austronesian languages were the most widespread language family in the world, distributed over approximately two-thirds of the world’s circumference from Madagascar to Southeast Asia and beyond, to the edges of Polynesia. They include Malay and many of the languages of Malaysia, most of the languages of Indonesia, all the languages of the Philippines, all the Polynesian languages, and even Malagasy, spoken in Madagascar off the east coast of Africa. This talk, conducted in English, Malay-Indonesian and Tagalog, will serve as an introduction to the common grammatical and phonological features of these languages. Brian Loo Soon Hua, Hadrian Rachwał

See Hadrian’s bio on page 35

Bet you can’t pronounce it Friday, 10:00 For all those brave ones, who never bothered to pronounce the craziest sounds that a human can make – let us break your tongue in half. For all those cocky ones, who think they know a fair bit about phonetics – let’s see how you’re actually doing with your tones, clicks and pharyngealized, ingressive percussives. We’ve gathered the most biz- zare phonological features of languages existing and not to test when your mouthparts give up on trying to keep up. Cécile Plecenik

Currently making language-related videos for her YouTube channel and working as a teachers’ mentor for the OECD, Cécile Plecenik grew up in the French Loire Valley, studied in Spain (philology in Granada and linguistics in Cadiz), and has had a few different jobs up till now: ride assistant at the London Eye, baker and school administrator in England; translator and University researcher in Spain; hotel receptionist and organic farmer in Italy; language school owner and education specialist in Slovakia. In her free time, she likes to volunteer with Roma and disabled people, and to travel and learn languages, of course.

La recette des apprentis polyglottes Saturday, 11:00 La recette pour apprendre une langue Au menu : je vous présente la petite expérience que je mène à bien depuis quelques mois pour apprendre le portugais. À partir de cette étude de cas, nous allons tous ensemble tirer des conclusions sur l’apprentissage de langues en 26 List of talks and speakers

général, en suivant les étapes successives par lesquelles tout apprenant de langue (expé- rimenté ou non) passe. Pour une recette réussie, nous verrons quels sont les bons et les mauvais ingrédients et comment bien les doser… sans oublier la touche du chef ! La mission de Cécile en tant que formatrice et polyglotte est de placer la dimension ludique au cœur du processus d’acquisition de connaissances et de compétences. Donc, si tu as envie d’échanger autour de l’apprentissage de langues en passant un bon moment de convivialité, viens participer à cette présentation ! Cesco Reale

A scientific communicator, Cesco deals with games, languages and maths, creating festivals, exhibitions and conferences. He speaks more than 10:00 languages, including Latin and Esperanto, and holds the IPA certificate in phonetics. He is also the UN representative for the World Esperanto Association and the creator of Limbas, language seminar in Italy. Visit his site at cescoreale.com/lingue and his YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/user/matematikemulo/playlists

Finally, a new logika système de transliteración for Chinês: il Mandarino was never so simpla! Sunday, 15:00 All existing transliteration systems for Mandarin Chinese have inconsistencies and in some cases induce pronunciations that are completely different from the correct ones, especially in people that do not know anything about Mandarin. For this reason we developed DjenIn, a new system that is phonetically consistent and that aims at: 1) being more intuitive and transparent to pronounce for non-mandarin speakers that have to pronounce a chinese word (e.g. the name of a colleague) 2) being an easier way to learn Mandarin pronunciation for L2 chinese students 3) providing a more consistent system for L1 chinese students Being regular and consistent, DjenIn also allows to write variations in the pronunciation. We did some tests for aims 1 and 2, that confirmed our expectations. Chuck Smith

Chuck Smith (Chief Technical Officer) is a former co-organizer of the Polyglot Gathering, contributor of Duolingo’s Esperanto course and founder of the Esperanto Wikipedia, among other Esperanto and polyglot projects.

Meet language partners nearby with Amikumu Thursday, 17:00 As a polyglot, you know how difficult it is to find time to practice all your languages. This is where Amikumu comes in: next time you’re at the airport with an hour to spare, you can simply take out Amikumu and look for people nearby who speak your languages. Or even while at language festivals and events, wouldn’t you love to know who else is learning your language at that very moment? List of talks and speakers 27

Sign up today to join our members in 135+ countries who speak 500+ languages! See multilingual profiles of other Gathering participants this week. Also check out the recently launched “Flow” where you can practice writing and reading all the languages you speak with others around you. Dave Prine

Dave Prine is a huge language enthusiast (like you and me), but he is also an endangered language advocate and a linguist-in-training. He has had a hand in numerous endangered language projects over the years, and he hopes to continue this trend until (and perhaps even after) he dies. You can find out more about him by hiring a private investigator to follow him around town, or you can just save your money and read his blog www. polyglotsanonymous.com.

“I’m Not Dead Yet!” Waking the Sleeping Language of Tunica Saturday, 15:00 What do you do when the last speaker of the language of your people died over 60 years ago, taking the language to the grave? What do you do when the only remnants of the language are in books written around that time? What can you do, especially when all hope appears to be lost? The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana found hope in this situation, and they’ve been working with Tulane University to bring the language back. With few resources available, this collaboration has succeeded in reviving the language in many forms: an online dictionary, an incipient textbook, language immersion camps, and even a Tumblr page. And that’s just the start. If this language was thought to have died, then it’s a language that just won’t stay dead. This talk will give you some insight into the history of the Tunica language and people, the efforts that have gone into resuscitating the language, and enough vocabulary and grammar to pique any polyglot’s curiosity. If you join us, lapuhch (“it would be a good thing”)! David J. James (and Lýdia Machová)

David James is a 54 year-old UK origin accountant working in agriculture and living in Poland. He studied Modern and Medieval Languages at Cambridge and has studied a number of both living and dead languages. To enable himself to do this even with the lower time allowance that comes with family and career, he developed the long-term memory tool “the Gold List Method” which is now used by a community of learners around the world.

See Lýdia’s bio on page 47

A practical workshop in the GoldList method Thursday, 15:00 The Goldlist method is a unique method to learn (not only!) vocabulary to your long- term memory without memorizing anything, merely by writing and rewriting lists of words in regular intervals. It is based on the fact that you can’t force your long-term 28 List of talks and speakers

memory to remember anything – just let it pick whatever it wants to remember. The method is very simple and it works amazingly. It has gained thousands of fans all over the world who find it a true revolution in learning vocabulary. In this practical workshop, David, the founder of the method, and Lýdia, the method’s biggest promoter, will show you how to apply it in practice – all you need is a notebook and a pen. If you’ve ever tried it and you’re not sure what you did wrong, the workshop will answer all your questions. Davide Bozzo

Davide Bozzo is a teacher of Italian as second language and director of Cinque Terre Summer School. He taught Italian language and culture at the University for Foreigners of Perugia, University of Florence and McGill University. He received a PhD in Philosophy at the University of Pisa and a Master’s Degree in Teaching Italian as L2 at the University of Padua, with an internship at Boston University and University College Dublin. As president of a cultural association of Cinque Terre he is studying the local dialect of Ligurian language and he writes lyrics for the folk band Grandi & fanti.

Learning a language through «authentic listening» of songs: a workshop about Italian. Sunday, 15:00 One of the most important principles of language education claims that the more pleasant the learning experience is, the faster and long-lasting the language acquisition will be. What more enjoyable than music to learn a language? Authentic listening of songs aims to bring inside a classroom what millions of people have done for years – especially before the advent of the Internet – everywhere in the world: trying to write down the lyrics of a foreign song they like. The listening is «authentic» because it is not guided by the teacher through specific tasks – such us cloze or multiple choice – but let the learners free to write just what they understand, before individually then in couples. Finally, working in small groups, we will transform the activity in an engaging challenge able to effectively increase motivation. The workshop will be divided in two parts: in the first – held in English – we will present the theoretical principles of our method, while in the second one – held in Italian – we will give a practical example of it. Dick Howeson

Dick Howeson co-founded uTalk language learning company 27 years ago after his spoken French let him down in a business meeting. He realised technology could help people learn and left his job in an IT company to do just that. Fast forward to the uTalk language learning app which uses native speakers to give speaking and listening skills in 140 languages with over 19,000 language learning combinations. The company champions minority languages as well as mainstream ones and flies voice artists from all over the world to its London recording studio so people can learn to speak like the locals from the locals. List of talks and speakers 29

Rescued from extinction: uTalk’s Manx workshop Friday, 15:00 Manx is a fascinating language which was declared extinct in 2009 but has now been brought back from the brink. It’s spoken on the Isle of Man, a small island between the UK and Ireland. Like many Celtic languages, it doesn’t have a word for “yes” or “no” which makes for interesting translations! When making the app, we took expert advice, and went for “It is” and “It is not”. Come to this workshop and discover more about the language and learn some useful, basic words and phrases by listening to native speakers. We’ll split you into teams, hand out devices loaded with uTalk and see how much you can learn in an hour. There’s also a prize for the winning team. Just bring yourself and passion for learning!

Language of reindeer herders: uTalk’s Southern Saami workshop. Friday, 17:00 Southern Saami is the threatened language spoken by reindeer herders in Norway and Sweden. It’s an amazing language with a whole vocabulary built around the herding way of life and the life cycle of the reindeer. For instance the Southern Saami word for May is “Suehpede” which means reindeer calving and September is “Skïerede” meaning reindeer mating season. Come to this workshop and discover more about the language and learn some useful, basic words and phrases by listening to native speakers. We’ll split you into teams, hand out devices loaded with our uTalk language learning app and see how much you can learn in an hour. There’s also a prize for the winning team. Just bring yourself and passion for learning! Ekaterina Lozina

She likes yoga and learning to dance salsa. She is already volunteering at the event and thinks that a little physical training could be useful for everyone there.

Fizikaj ekzercoj por ĉekomputilaj homoj Saturday, 17:00 Pluraj homoj, kiuj pasas multe da tempo ĉe komputilo, havas sanproblemojn pro sufiĉe daŭra kaj preskaŭ senmova sidado. Do ni faros kelkajn ekzercojn por dorso, kolo kaj okuloj, kiujn eblas kaj indas praktiki ĉe laborloko. Kaj certe tio estos utila ankaŭ dum la aranĝo, kie ni same malmulte moviĝas sed longe sidas. Egor Anosov

Egor is a language and dance teacher from Moscow, Russia. He helps not only his fellow citizens master European languages but also brings closer Russian language to people from abroad. Egor enjoys teaching and watching his students make progress. The most important points for him are comfortable and cooperative atmosphere during the class as well as the pleasure they get with his students. 30 List of talks and speakers

Introduction into Russian by means of folk dance Thursday, 12:00 We invite you to get to know Russian language and culture at the folk dance workshop. Once you’ve joined our cheerful company you’ll be able to feel the joyful atmosphere of a traditional Russian festivity and better understand the mysterious Russian soul as well as learn some basic expressions in this great and powerful language as Turgenev called it. We are happy to see everyone who is willing to add more bright colours to their lives. Welcome! Elisa Polese

Elisa Polese is a professional language teacher. She teaches Italian, German, English, Spanish, Russian, French, Dutch, Catalan, Portuguese, Greek, Hindi, Arabic and Esperanto (at different levels). She specialises in multilingual teaching (up to 10 languages in one course) and is a certified language examiner for English, Italian, Russian, French, German and Spanish. She has been teaching and living in several countries (UK, Russia, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland) and holds two BAs in Translating and Interpreting, a CELTA (Certification in English Language Teaching to Adults) a MA in Didactics and a MA in International Communication. She is also a language coach and writes learning material and language learning books.

Speaking from day one: an interactive multilingual lesson. Thursday, 10:00 Have you ever asked yourself whether learning more languages at the same time is possible? And what about start speaking them from day one without mixing them up? After this multilingual workshop you will be able to have short conversations in several languages (Italian, Spanish, German, Russian, French and Esperanto). You will be able to switch from one language to another. This workshop is for beginners and absolute beginners. The focus will be on conversation. It will be very interactive and fun so come along! Ellen de Visser

Ellen de Visser is from the Netherlands but has studied German and French linguistics and literature in Berlin, Bristol and Prague and is a freelance translator working with the languages Dutch, German and English. She has been fascinated by Germanic languages since her studies and enjoys giving talks and workshops at conferences.

Learn how to pronounce German correctly with the IPA Saturday, 15:00 Learn to pronounce German words correctly with the IPA in 45 min! I’m not talking about India Pale Ale, but about the International Phonetic Alphabet. This alphabet is used in most dictionaries and linguistic books and shows you how to pronounce words List of talks and speakers 31

and sentences correctly. Knowledge of the IPA can make you aware of small differences in phonetics and can get you get rid of your accent. Knowing the right pronunciation can do wonders for your speaking and listening skills. In this workshop I will only focus on the sounds used in the German language. Who says German is a hard language? Emília Andrejová

Currently working as a Field Officer at the Commission’s Repre- sentation in Bratislava. Responsible for translation, communication and organisation of language-related events.

Current challenges for multilingualism policy in the EU Thursday, 9:00 What are the most challenging developments in the EU concerning the multilingualism policy? Will Brexit influence the number of official languages used in the EU? Will there be any changes in the procedural languages? What are the rules and who can have a say in this situation? Eugenio Grapa

Eugenio is a Mexican living in Germany, migrating 5 times to new countries and learning four languages along the way. He suffers from terminal language-wanderlust, having studied more languages than he likes to admit, and is currently learning Hebrew and Tibetan. An Engineer and Marketer by training he develops language apps as a hobby, the most recent focused on writing systems. His portfolio includes about 20 apps, from Aramaic to Yiddish (including Klingon). An avid collector of old language- related books, you can find him haunting the rare book sections of any local bookstores.

So You Want to Build a Language App? Saturday, 16:00 You’ve got a great idea for a language learning app? Or you just want to know how language apps are made, published and promoted? Or maybe you think there are already too many apps out there? Attend an open talk on app development! We’ll go over the nuts and bolts of making a mobile language app and we’ll try to have a challenging discussion on what makes a useful app. We’ll go over refining an idea, creating mock-ups, and building your idea into great mobile app specific to language learning. Whether you want to do the development yourself or hire help, you’ll need to think about the app content. We’ll cover the publication and promotion process and some of the thinking that needs to take place to actually get an audience. Are there already too many language apps and tools? Do they meet your needs? Try to address the burning question – does the world need another language learning app? Let’s see if we identify some of the desires and needs held in common with other Gathering participants. You are the users, challenge app editors to meet your needs and improve their apps! 32 List of talks and speakers

Fábio Nogueira After learning English by himself, Fabio Nogueira realized that he should pursue a career working with languages. He has a degree in Portuguese and German (UFC, Fortaleza, Brazil) and a Master degree in German (Universität Leipzig) and works now as a Portuguese teacher in two universities (Universität Bremen and Universität Hamburg). His blog aprenderalemao.com is one of the most famous blogs about German written in Portuguese. He also speaks Spanish, French, some Italian and has some basic knowledge in many other languages. He also likes to travel and to take pictures.

Brazilian Portuguese Phonology Saturday, 10:00 In this workshop I’d like to teach you how to read any Portuguese word based on its written form. Based on my experience teaching Portuguese, we’re going to practice the most difficult sounds. In some cases, regional varieties will be also mentioned and practiced. At the end we will practice some linking sounds and learn some basic intonation rules. Francesco Samarelli

Imagine a sensitive, emotional and picky 5 year old who loves espresso. That was and still is Francesco Samarelli. Born and raised in the most diverse city in the USA (Jersey City, NJ). Francesco realized at a young age that speaking to someone in their native tongue changes their bond immensely. As an Italian-American who grew up speaking Neapolitan, Italian, Spanish then English, he knew that this was just the beginning to truly connecting with the world.

Find Your Why, Your Goal Depends On It! Thursday, 17:00 We all have dreams. We all want to find fulfillment. We all deserve to have our dreams fulfilled. In this talk, we will talk about finding your why when it comes to Language Learning and how your goals depend on it. Throughout my failures and successes when learning a new language, I realized that I can only succeed when starting with an intrinsic reason which leads to true fulfillment. Volunteerism, family ancestry and human connection are just a few of the “Why’s” we will discuss in this talk filled with personal stories that have helped shape why, your why is so important. Franziska Oertle

Tibetan Indigenous Grammar in Colloquial Tibetan – Taught via Zoom: A synthesis of tradition and modernity Thursday, 16:00 Modern Tibetan language and its indigenous grammar is extremely particular and profound – clearly expressing and reflecting the socio-cultural notions of the time of the creation of the latter in the 7th century. Letters have genders, such as male, neutral, and List of talks and speakers 33

all the way to “barren”, verbs are distinguished in terms of volition and the speaker always expresses the degree of evidence, direct or inferential. Furthermore, not only is there an honorific – but even a“humilific” language register (!). My talk explores some of the complexities of this language and grammar and how these are most skilfully and effectively learned and taught in the 21st century – where, enrolments for Tibetan language classes and high quality text books and other Modern Tibetan language related resources are limited but technology available plentiful. If time permits, I will also share a little bit of my experiences on my journey from a Tibetan language student in Kathmandu, Nepal over Dharamshala, India, which is also called “little Lhasa”, teaching future translators& writing a Tibetan language text books to now teaching Modern Tibetan at UVa (Universtiy of Virginia – one of the leading U.S. Universities in Tibetan Studies) over zoom. Gabriel Gelman

Gabriel Gelman is a polyglot from Germany who speaks six languages. He is the founder of the German language learning platform Sprachheld. In the past few years Sprachheld has become one of the go to websites about anything related to language learning on the German market. Gabriel regularly interviews language experts, polyglots, professors and researches about language learning and foreign languages.

5 Methoden um in einem Viertel der Zeit eine Fremdsprache fließend zu sprechen Friday, 10:00 Muss es wirklich Jahre dauern bis man eine Fremdsprache fließend sprechen kann? Ist es notwendig Tausende Vokabeln zu kennen, jede Grammatikregel zu beherrschen und ein perfektes Hörverständnis zu haben? Nein! Polyglotte haben keine Lust Jahre zu lernen, bevor sie auch nur das erste Gespräch beginnen können. Das ist doch überhaupt der Grund warum eine Fremdsprache gelernt wird: Damit man in so schnell wie möglich mit Muttersprachlern sprechen kann. In diesem Vortrag erfährst Du, welche Methoden von vielen Polyglotten angewendet werden, um innerhalb kürzester Zeit fließend zu sprechen. Ohne, dass es notwendig ist, sich Jahre lang darauf vorzubereiten. Zwei Methoden, die in diesem Vortrag angesprochen werden, sind: Blitzumschreibung und Mikroflüssigkeit. Mit Blitzumschreibung ist es möglich in Echtzeit alternative Vokabeln zu finden, wenn man nicht weiß, wie man etwas ausdrückt. Und zwar ohne, dass der Gesprächspartner irgendwas mitbekommt. Eine weitere populäre Methode ist die Mikroflüssigkeit. Statt sich einen Wortschatz in allen möglichen Themen anzueignen, konzentriert man sich auf einige wenige Themen, über die man dann aber fließend sprechen kann. Mit Mikroflüssigkeit ist es also möglich innerhalb weniger Wochen fließend über bestimmte Themen zu sprechen. Drei weitere Methoden werden in diesem Vortrag vorgestellt. 34 List of talks and speakers

Gareth Popkins

Gareth Popkins has a doctorate in Russian history from the University of Oxford and taught the subject through the medium of Welsh at the University of Aberystwyth. He then trained as a lawyer and worked for several years in the Moscow office of an international law firm. A London-based language enthusiast, his “best” foreign languages are Russian, Welsh, German and French and he has studied others including, most recently, Basque. He blogs and vlogs at Howtogetfluent.com and on his YouTube channel.

The Talent Question Sunday, 11:00 As you progress round the Polyglot Gathering, glancing nervously down at people’s name tags and language flags, do you have a sneaking suspicion that it’s easier for some people to learn languages than others? Or is it just a matter of good methods and application? Can anybody do it? The “talent question” is the focus of this talk. Is there really such a thing as a “talent for languages”? If there is, what if you don’t have it? Is all lost...or are there things you can do to compensate? This will be a realistic exploration of individual difference in language learning. It’ll also be packed with practical encouragement for all of us who love learning languages, whatever gifts we have to work with. Gavan Fantom

Born into an Esperanto-speaking family in the UK, Gavan Fantom is no stranger to the unusual. As well as a keen interest in languages, a lifelong pursuit of music and a career in technology, he is an avid collector of ideas, information, hobbies and activities. He holds a private pilot licence and enjoys flying recreationally.

The Language of Aviation Friday, 16:00 In the world of aviation, clear and accurate communication between people from all around the world is critical to safety. Pilots and air traffic controllers in particular exchange important information verbally over the radio using standardised and regulated language. Experience a taste of aviation with examples of how communication works, insight into the standard phraseology and also what happens on the rare occasions when it goes wrong. We will explore some of the reasons behind today’s practices, and how historical events have shaped the language we use in the present. This talk does not require any prior knowledge of aviation. While there will be some discussion of air accidents, these will be accompanied by discussion of the changes that prevent similar accidents from happening again. You will understand why your flight home will be safe and you will have a greater appreciation for the work that the pilots and air traffic control are doing while you fly. List of talks and speakers 35

Grigory Kazakov

Grigory Kazakov, PhD, originally of Moscow State University, is Professor at the Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics, Moscow University for the Humanities (Russia). He is member of Amici Linguarum, The American Society of Geolinguistics, Institute for Multicultural Community Studies (Japan), and Laboratory for Studies of Sociolinguistic Aspects of Language, Institute of Russian and Oriental Studies, University of Gdansk (Poland). His research has been mainly in language learning, polyglottery, and sacred linguistics.

How it all works: insights into the nature of language learning Thursday, 12:00 In this presentation I will try to show what research in such fields as first language acquisition (children acquiring their mother tongues), second language acquisition (learning non-native languages), audiolinguistics (psychophysiolinguistics of hearing) and polyglottery (multilingual knowledge as a result of conscious study) reveal about the nature and psycholinguistic mechanisms of language learning. Among other things, I will discuss such issues as fis phenomenon, comprehensible input and affective filter hypotheses, audiolinguistic laws, sound frequencies of different languages and logarithmic dynamics of progress in foreign languages, and will try to generalize what all said disciplines agree on.

Principles of accelerated language learning Friday, 15:00 Increasing amounts of international communication create a need for mastering languages more rapidly than before. In the 21st century, to be successful in a globalized world one will have to know at least 2 or 3 major modern languages. All this urges one to search for methods of accelerated language learning. From analyzing linguistics data, polyglots’ experience and existing foreign language textbooks I have deduced several principles which can speed up the process of learning a new language. Besides describing these principles and suggesting how to use them, I will give examples of particular learning materials and methods in which they are implemented. Hadrian Rachwał

Hadrian is a young language enthusiast, he is fluent in at least three languages as well as rapidly progressing in a couple of others, including his recent challenge of acquiring Mandarin Chinese in nine months period of intensive study. Since child he’s been insanely interested in the field of phonetics.

The Concept of Mapping applied to Foreign Language Acquisition – 论映射在外语习得中的应用 Sunday, 12:00 Mapping is the idea of applying strategies of making complex nets of associations in different areas of language learning as well as incorporation of those to a multitude of 36 List of talks and speakers

life’s choices in order to maximize the return on investment. Being conscious of how to apply proper methods to your learning process is crucial to be an efficient language learner, whether you want to make sense of strange phonetics, tackle the complicated grammar structures or figure out how to fit a language in your daily life. Given the example of learning Mandarin Chinese in the course of nine months I’ll try to present the ideas of developing one’s mapping skills in the linguistical field.

Bet you can’t pronounce it (with Brian Loo Soon Hua) Friday, 10:00 See the description on the page 25.

italki: Mandarin and Slovak demonstration lessons

Sunday, 16:00 Join italki for a live language lesson demonstration. We will be joined remotely by italki Mandarin and Slovak teachers.

Jana Fadness

Jana Fadness is a polyglot from the United States who has spent most of her language learning life focused on Japanese. She has previously lived in Japan for over five years, and is currently working as a freelance Japanese-English translator and interpreter while wandering around the world. In addition to Japanese and her native English, she also speaks French, German, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, and Korean at various levels, and is always working to improve her languages.

Don’t be intimidated by Asian languages! Sunday, 11:00 Having been to several polyglot events, I’ve met a lot of people who speak several European languages, but many have confessed to finding Asian languages intimidating. If even polyglots feel intimidated, I feel this is a topic worth addressing. Many aspects of Asian languages may seem scary, but they are far from impossible to master. Based on my experience of studying several Asian languages, in this talk I will break down the tones, complex writing systems, unfamiliar vocabulary, and other “scary” parts of these languages to hopefully make them seem a little less foreign and more accessible. I hope to encourage more polyglots to tackle these fascinating languages! List of talks and speakers 37

Jarosław Szemet

20 years of international experience in the field of tourism abroad. 10 years of experience in organizing and teaching Turkish language in Poland. Fluent speaker in English, Spanish, Turkish and Czech. Organizer of the Turkish language classes in Poland (www.hayal.eu). Founder of the free online Turkish course for polish email users. Speaker and participant at foreign languages events. Promotor of Czech language as a full of wise words. Administrator of Turkish, Czech and Spanish language groups on Facebook. Hobby: Marathon runner with the personal best – 3:05h

Get to know one of most beautiful languages in the world (Turkish) Sunday, 11:00 Beauties of some Turkish names, their meaning in real life. Structure of the Turkish sentences, some examples and their meaning. Interesting matches between: words and similar verbs. Counting to 10 in Turkish as an interesting example of associating pictures in mind. Jennifer Geacone-Cruz

Jennifer is a lifelong polyglot who lives out her love for languages every day. She holds a master’s degree in psycholinguistics and cognitive science, and is a career language technologist, writer, and Japanologist. As Content Director for Lingvist, a large part of her job is motivating people, helping them to better understand the science behind language learning and how the Lingvist app uses this science to help them learn more quickly and effectively.

『らくらくでペラペラよ!』: Japanese through onomatopoeia! Sunday, 12:00 For those who experience synesthesia, sensory activity can trigger extraordinary experiences where sounds have taste, colours have texture you can feel, or words turn into complex models of what they actually are. For a polyglot with synesthesia, these experiences become all the more immersive. Through my experiences as a synaesthete polyglot, along with the stories of other synaesthetes and polyglots around me, I’ll talk about how these experiences help us better understand language learning, linguistic creativity, how our brains process language, and how we can use these findings in all of our language experiences. Jitka Vršovská (aka Jiti Dias)

Jitka is originally from Prague, Czech Republic, studied and worked in 7 different countries and speaks 8 European languages while currently learning 3 more. She has been living for more than 3 years now in Berlin, the city that has inspired her to live an even more fulfilling life, read more books, work on more projects, learn more languages, never give up on her dreams and make the life-changing decision of going vegan. 38 List of talks and speakers

¿Chili sin o con carne? Qué pasa con el mundo cambiando a una dieta vegana / basada en plantas. Thursday, 12:00 Los defensores de una dieta vegana proclaman que no es buena sólo para nuestra salud y los animales, sino también para el medio ambiente y la economía global. Un mundo en el que todos se alimentan con comida deliciosa y saludable mejorando la calidad de vida de los humanos, animales y nuestro planeta. Suena como una utopía o un futuro realizable? Probablemente tú y yo no lo resolveremos hoy durante nuestro workshop pero por lo menos te puedo presentar mis consejos y trucos favoritos de remplazar productos animales por productos vegetales a través de un quiz interactivo y mostrarte que muchos estereotipos no reflejan la realidad. Comer vegano puede ser fácil, barato, rico y te quedarás con papilas gustativas satisfechas y con la barriguita llena. ¡Promesa! Joanna van Schaïk

Joanna van Schaïk is a polyglot and language enthusiast hailing from the Netherlands. Having travelled a bit during her youth, she has spent extensive time abroad and picked up a variety of languages, of which she claims to speak between 10:00 and 15:00, depending on how you define fluency, and she has studied a fair few more. As an openly trans woman, she likes LGBT themes, travel, chess, and science. She currently teaches Dutch, English and Russian for beginners on iTalki and occasionally does translation work.

La lectura extensiva: el método polígloto por excelencia Thursday, 16:00 En el año pasado, Joanna ha iniciado un experimento: leer una cantidad masiva de libros en idiomas extranjeros. Tras haber leído 54 libros en más que diez idiomas durante todo el año 2017, incluyendo idiomas de más de cuatro familias lingüísticas, el resultado ha sido impresionante: ella notó un progreso en la mayoría de sus idiomas, y además disfrutó mucho del proceso. Esta presentación proporciona una sinopsis del proceso y explica las causas del mejoramiento. ¿Cómo debemos usar la lectura extensiva para el poliglotismo? ¿Qué provecho concreto podemos sacar de ella? ¿Y cómo se adaptará la lectura al futuro digital? Esas preguntas y más se discutirán durante esta presentación. Y, a fin de mostrar el progreso, la charla será en un idioma extranjero para Joanna: el castellano, que aprendió durante ocho meses en España. Judith Meyer

Judith Meyer is a Berlin-based polyglot with a particular interest in non- European languages. She founded the Polyglot Gathering, worked as a course developer for several companies and authored several books.

Fast Track Language Learning Thursday, 9:00 Are you planning a trip abroad? Do you urgently need to know a language? There is a time for “slow and steady” language learning List of talks and speakers 39

and there is a time for Fast Track Language Learning. Discover how you can make more progress than you ever thought possible in a short time – for when a deadline is looming. I myself have used these techniques in order to give a talk at an Indonesian speaking competition just six weeks after starting from zero, to have long conversations in Hebrew after three months, or to understand a Japanese anime series after just one month. My talk will cover goal-setting, materials and everyday study of such short- term language learning missions. Katarína Balleková

Katarína Balleková, PhD., graduated from the Faculty of Arts of Comenius University in Bratislava (Slovak language and literature & German language; ethnology), works as a researcher at the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in the field of Slovak dialectology, lexicology and lexicography. She also deals with research of diaspora Slovak language (especially in Hungary, Serbia and Romania). She is a co-author of the Academic Dictionary of Slovak dialects; co-author of the book Rememberances. The First World War in the Language of Grand Parents and editor of the narrative dialect texts published in it; co-editor of several scientific proceedings. She is an author of many scholarly texts focused on Slovak dialects and dialect stratification, a professional consultant for work in the archives of dialect sources, prepares databases of electronic sources, and popularizes Slovak dialects in the wider cultural public.

Rôznorodosť slovenských zemepisných dialektov na Slovensku a v jazykových enklávach vo svete Thursday, 16:00 Prirodzené, neregulované jazykové útvary – zemepisné dialekty – sa vyznačujú na Slovensku veľkou rôznorodosťou, na základe svojich spoločných znakov sa zaraďujú do 3 veľkých nadnárečových útvarov. Slovenské nárečia v jazykových enklávach národnostných menšín mimo územia Slovenska sú charakteristické svojou archaickosťou a heterogénnosťou jazykových javov, konzervujú staršiu podobu jazykového systému slovenčiny. V prednáške predstavíme aj najdôležitejšie diela a pramenné zbierky o slovenských dialektoch. Katarína Gajdošová

Katarína Gajdošová, PhD. works as a research associate at the Slovak National Corpus Department of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, where she coordinates the partial projects: Corpus of Spoken Slovak and Corpus of Slovak Dialects. She authored several scientific articles published in Slovakia and abroad. She is a co-author of The Slovak Language in the Digital Age and co-investigator in many domestic and foreign projects. Her main areas of interest are corpus and comparative linguistics. She focuses on the methodology of working with corpus resources during practical seminars for professional and general audience concentrating on acquiring corpus-linguistic competence. 40 List of talks and speakers

Nárečové projekty Slovenského národného korpusu: Korpus nárečí SNK a Archív nárečí SNK Thursday, 15:00 V prezentácii predstavíme projekty Korpus nárečí Slovenského národného korpusu a Archív nárečí Slovenského národného korpusu budované v Oddelení Slovenského národného korpusu Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV v Bratislave. V rámci projektu Korpusu nárečí SNK sa zhromažďujú existujúce, predovšetkým už publikované textové prepisy nárečových zvukových alebo transkribovaných záznamov, jednotne sa spracú- vajú korpusovou metodikou a nástrojmi. V súčasnosti korpus obsahuje takmer 500 tisíc textových jednotiek z viacerých nárečových oblastí Slovenska. Archív nárečí SNK predstavuje rozsiahly elektronický súbor zvukových záznamov nárečových prehovorov a súvisiacich zdrojov, z ktorého je prezenčne k dispozícii 280 zvukových záznamov. Nárečový materiál zhromažďovaný v oboch databázach je prístupný na jednom mieste bádateľom v oblasti nárečí a všetkým záujemcom o slovenské nárečia. Kelvin Jackson

Kelvin is a Master’s student in Finno-Ugric linguistics at the University of Turku, and enjoys making copious amounts of awful puns in as many languages as possible. Outside of polyglotism, they are also a conlanger, and ultimately got into language learning and linguistics through conlanging.

Polyglot Punning / Multlingve vortludumi Thursday, 17:00 Por poliglotoj, vortludoj havas novan dimension, en kiun ili povas etendiĝi: multaj vortoj havas komike malsamajn signifojn en aliaj lingvoj, kaj tio provizas multan materialon por lingva humoro. Se oni lernas rimarki eblajn vortludojn, tio ankaŭ povas ekzerci la “muskolojn” en la cerbo, kiujn oni uzas por lerni morfologion kaj dividi vortojn kaj frazojn en partojn. Kaj vortludoj povas esti bona metodo por amikiĝi kun denaskaj parolantoj de viaj celaj lingvoj, speciale se vi scipovas fari ilin sen preparado (kvankam iuj homoj bedaŭrinde ne aprezos ilin tiom, kiel aliaj). Finfine, la kreado de vortludoj, en kiuj oni uzas nove lernitajn vortojn, helpos memorebligi ilin: ekzemple, mi memoras la hungaran vorton sűrű “dika (pri supo)” pro vortludo, kion mi unufoje faris kun ĝi kaj la finna vorto surullinen “malfeliĉa”. Ĉar vi estas poligloto, vi povas miksi erojn de iuj ajn lingvoj, kaj riĉigi la eblan vortludaron. La ebloj estas senfinaj! Tiu prelego estos multlingva kaj ekstreme amuza. Bonvolu veni pretaj por ridi!

For a polyglot, puns and wordplay have an entire new dimension to expand into: many words have hilariously different meanings in other languages, providing ample fodder for linguistic humor. Learning to notice opportunities for puns can also help exercise the brain “muscles” used for picking up on morphology and splitting words and sentences up into parts. And puns can be a great way to bond with native speakers of your target language(s), especially if you can learn to make them on the fly (although some audiences will, unfortunately, not appreciate them as much as others). Finally, making puns based on new vocabulary will help create mnemonics for the words in question: for instance, I remember the Hungarian word sűrű “thick” (as in a thick soup) due to a List of talks and speakers 41

pun I once made based on it and the Finnish word surullinen “sad”. As a polyglot, you can mix and match pieces of whatever languages you like, making the space of possible puns so much richer. The possibilities are endless! This talk will be multilingual and extremely light-hearted. Please come prepared to laugh! Do note, however, that since this talk is in the “non-English” slot, I will not be using English during the talk itself.

Suomalais-ugrilaiset kielet Saturday, 10:00 Suomalais-ugrilaiseen kieliperheeseen ei kiinnitetä tarpeeksi huomiota monikielisessä yhteisössä, vaikka siinä on paljon mielenkiintoisia kieliä. Tunnet varmasti jo suomen, unkarin, ja viron, mutta tiesitkö, että samassa perheessa on yli 30 muuta kieltä, joita puhutaan venäjällä ja pohjoismaissa? Monet niistä kielistä ovat valitettavasti uhanalaisia, ja sen takia tarvitsevat mahdollisimman paljon uusia puhujia. Mutta tästä huolimatta niitä — paitsi suomea, unkaria, ja joskus viroa — kuullaan vain harvoin poliglottien yhteisössä. Kannattaa kiinnittää huomiota tähän mielenkiintoiseen perheeseen. Suomalais-ugrilaiset kielet ovat agglutinoivia, ja niillä on yleensä monimutkainen mutta tosi säännöllinen kielioppi. Tässä esitelmässä selitetään suomalais-ugrilaisen perheen rakenne, sen kielten yhteiset piirteet, ja miten ja mistä voi oppia niitä.

The Finno-Ugric language family doesn’t receive enough attention in the polyglot community, despite containing a large number of interesting languages. You are likely already familiar with Finnish, Hungarian, and Estonian, but did you know that the same family contains over 30 other languages, spoken in Russia and the Nordic countries? Many of these languages are unfortunately endagered, and therefore could use as many new speakers as possible. But despite this, they — with the exception of Finnish, Hungarian, and sometimes Estonian — are rarely heard in the polyglot community. This rather interesting family of languages deserves more attention than it is getting. The Finno-Ugric languages are agglutinative, and they tend to be complicated but very regular grammatically. In this talk we will cover the makeup of the Finno-Ugric family, common features shared by its members, and where and how they can be studied. This talk will be given in easy Finnish, with multilingual slides in Finnish, Russian, and German. If you’ve studied Finnish, but don’t feel confident in your listening ability, you are still strongly encouraged to come — you may be surprized how much you understand! Kerstin Cable

Kerstin is the writer and educator behind www.fluentlanguage. co.uk, a website helping everyone build a language learning habit. She is the host of the Fluent Show, a podcast about loving, living, and learning languages. Kerstin a native German speaker and comes from the beautiful Moselle valley. She studied 6 languages in Germany and then packed them up and moved England, where she added her most recent language crush, Welsh. She is a trained translator, and author of the guides Language Habit Toolkit, Fluency Made Achievable and The Vocab Cookbook. Map of the venue

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Hand Off, Headphones On: Don’t Miss Out On Language Podcasts Sunday, 15:00 Got a smartphone? Got headphones? Welcome to the revolution! Podcasts are the ingenious language learning trend that will change how you learn languages this year. Start your journey into the world of convenient language lessons that you can truly take anywhere: at the gym, on your commute, or doing the chores. And podcasts offer even more – think listening and speaking practice for any level! This talk from passionate podcaster Kerstin will give you a behind-the-scenes guide to finding your new favourite podcast, setting up a study system so you can get more out of every show, and how you can subscribe so that you’ll receive free language lessons on your headphones without even having to remember to click a button. Kevin Fei Sun

Programmer, journalist and former linguistics major from New York City, by way of Shanghai (and various other places).

Indo-Aryan for Slavic Speakers: from Sanskrit to Romani Friday, 10:00 In terms of linguistic history, Slavic languages are in many ways more closely related to the Indo-European languages of northern India (and the Middle East) than they are to West European language groups like Romance and Germanic. (Google the term “Satem languages” for the ur-example of this.) When a Slavic speaker begins to study a language like Hindi, Sanskrit or Bengali, they are likely to discover many similarities in both vocabulary and grammar, which offer a unique perspective on the history of Indo-European languages. This workshop will give participants an overview of Slavic’s South Asian cousins, starting with an examination of Sanskrit (whose complex case system is rendered much more manageable with a knowledge of a language like Russian, and which has a striking amount of obvious Slavic cognates) and continuing by exploring the development of modern Indo-Aryan languages and comparable developments in Slavic languages (e.g. Bengali is basically the Bulgarian of India, among other things). Finally, we will consider the special case of Romani/Gypsy, a language that originated in India but is now spoken side-by-side with Slavic languages in many countries, including Slovakia!

Shanghainese: A Comparative Approach/用历史比较语言学学说上海话 Friday, 11:00 Though much less well-known internationally than Mandarin or Cantonese, Shanghainese – the version of Wu Chinese spoken in Shanghai – remains a notable Chinese “dialect” (or rather, language) for linguistic, historical and economic reasons. A member of one of the few Chinese dialect groups (Wu) that preserved the voiced initials of Middle Chinese, Shanghainese formed over the past 150 years through the amalgamation of many regional dialects during a period of mass migration and political upheaval, from the Opium Wars to the Communist takeover, and remains widely spoken in what is now one of the world’s major financial centers and transport hubs (albeit increasingly limited to informal settings). This workshop serves as an introduction to the Shanghainese dialect, with a focus on List of talks and speakers 45

how participants can continue to learn more about the language afterwards – not the easiest task, given the relative lack of learning materials. By looking at the historical and comparative context of the language in both time and space, participants will learn how to make use of various other languages – Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese and Korean, to name a few – to “derive” the corresponding Shanghainese pronunciation, while gaining insight into historical linguistics in the process.

(Re)Learning a Heritage Language: How Hindi (and other languages) Helped Improve My Shanghainese Saturday, 10:00 Kevin grew up hearing Shanghainese spoken around him all the time – by parents, classmates, and occasionally teachers (but only when they were mad) – but never learned to speak it himself, becoming fluent in only English and Mandarin by the time he finished high school. Ten years later, after majoring in linguistics and studying dozens of other languages to varying levels of fluency, he decided to revisit the native language of his parents and grandparents. This exercise was highly instructive for him: from a more concrete sense of how languages develop and evolve, to unexpected connections between distant languages, and a greater appreciation for non-official languages and diglossia. This talk will use Kevin’s rediscovery of Shanghainese as a starting point to discuss how all language learners can use their later-acquired foreign language knowledge to reexamine previously familiar things in a new light, with all the unexpected surprises that entails. Krystof Klestil

Some say he was born with knitting needles in his hands, a crochet hook being held up by the big toe of his left foot and instead of hair, there was wool. A lot of wool.

Learn to knit better than your grandma Saturday, 11:00 Knitting is an art. One can not only take a design from nothing to completion all by oneself, but also train one’s imagination. Often described as 100x more effective than yoga for meditation and marriage issues. You only need to bring yourself, the rest will be provided. Kyle Kuzman

Kyle started his polyglot journey at age 16, when after a month in Germany, he desperately googled “how to actually learn languages” and stumbled upon Benny Lewis. That experience totally changed his life, and since then he’s spent all of his time and money on language learning, travel, and food while traveling. He’s especially passionate about learning languages through music, especially focusing on the sounds of language and how natives really speak, 46 List of talks and speakers

and inspiring and helping others to do the same. He currently teaches American English and German, and plans to soon add French and Brazilian Portuguese to the mix.

Language is in the ear, not the eye: Why learning to read too soon ruins your accent Friday, 10:00 Have you ever noticed that in American English, the vowel in “a, of, the, one, what, does, twenty, and touch” is exactly the same? That the written letter ‘l’ in “talk, half, and salmon” is silent? English spelling is incredibly illogical and confusing, so it’s impossible to know how to pronounce words by reading them. As a longtime language learner and teacher of English and German, I’ve noticed that most of the pronunciation difficulties I come across are not due to any lack of ability, but simply because of this major mismatch between the written and spoken word. To avoid the trap of actually mispronouncing words the way they’re written, I learn and teach real-life pronunciation using my own more logical and phonetic way to spell English and German. With the help of my two best students, I’ll demonstrate this system in action, and you’ll see how well it’s worked for them and why. I’ll share with you the most surprising and fascinating realizations from my teaching experience, including the many essential and fundamental sounds of these languages that simply can’t be learned through reading.

Music Language Learning Friday, 15:00 Over the past few years of my experience as a polyglot, I’ve developed a method for learning languages with music right from the start. This is a much more fun, effective, and natural way to learn to speak with great pronunciation and understand fast spoken language more quickly. I’ve found that learning and singing along with your favorite songs is by far one of the best and funnest ways to improve your accent, speaking ability, and comprehension in a new language. In this workshop, I’ll share my personal story and the evolution of my method, the reasons it works so well for me, and why this is now the only way I learn new languages. You’ll then have the chance to try it out for yourself with a live multilingual concert! Come learn how to sing your way to fluency :)

Why Hungarian is Easy Friday, 16:00 Ever heard that Hungarian is one of the hardest languages in the world? That it has 5 million cases? That no one’s ever learned to speak it fluently? Well think again. After learning this beautiful language for the past few years, I’m happy to report that it’s actually much more logical and straightforward than all the other European languages I speak! Yes, Hungarian is very unique. But different≠difficult, and most of Hungarian’s particularities actually make things much simpler: there’s no gender (no really!), only one “real” grammatical case, and spelling is almost perfectly phonetic! If you’re tired of having 15:00 different ways to say “the” in German, or 30 different spellings for the same sound in English, come to learn more about this mysterious and intriguing language. This workshop will include live music and plenty of audience participation, including a tongue-twister competition with prizes from Hungary! PS: Deutschkentnisse sind hilfreich aber nicht notwendig ;) List of talks and speakers 47

LingQ: A structured approach to online language teaching integrating LingQ and other online resources More and more polyglots and language teachers are offering language instruction online. An increasing variety of tools are available for teachers to create a learning experience that is different from traditional language instruction. The presentation will show how web based and mobile language learning tools can be used to encourage learners on a more self-directed learning path with excellent results. The presentation shows specific details of how to integrate contact hours with other independent learning activities on the part of students. Constantine is based in Kyiv, Ukraine and teaches mostly to Russian speakers from a variety of countries. He speaks Russian, English, Ukrainian, Italian and Japanese to varying degrees of fluency. Luca Sadurny

Luca Sadurny is a passionate language learner who speaks seven languages. Convinced that he was not talented at languages until his twenties, he had a revelation whilst learning French on his own: he simply found out that there are no bad learners, but only bad learning methods.From that moment on, Luca started experimenting and trying the most effective techniques and tools to learn languages in a smarter way. With the MosaLingua apps and blog, Luca and his team have already coached and helped more than 4 million users from all around the world.

Can you learn a language while sleeping? Friday, 17:00 Sleep-learning has always been a controversial topic and for many years research on this fascinating topic has been inconclusive. However, some recent studies have shed new light on the question: “Can you learn a language while you sleep?”. The first part of the talk will cover the results provided by the most recent studies on the topic. Afterwards, the speaker will describe the experiment he conducted on a group of language learners. The conclusions and insights of this experiment will be revealed and commented on during the talk. The goal is to help us understand whether trying to learn a language while we are asleep is useful or not. Lýdia Machová

Lýdia Machová PhD. is a professional interpreter and language mentor. She learns a new language more or less every two years, currently working on her 9th one, Swahili. She is the founder of Language Mentoring, a language-learning methodology which has gained thousands of fans in Slovakia and abroad in just two years. Lýdia received a special prize in the “Female Entrepreneur of Slovakia 2017” competition, awarded by Slovakia’s deputy prime minister for a modern and innovative approach in her business. 48 List of talks and speakers

She is one of the main organisers of the Polyglot Gathering 2017 and 2018 and in her free time, she loves to travel the world and dance salsa.

Language Mentoring two years later: No one is taught, everyone is learning! Saturday, 16:00 At Polyglot Gathering 2016, Lýdia presented her revolutionary experiment of leading university students of languages to actively work on improving their language skills outside of their lessons, simply by not waiting to be taught, but start learning by themselves. Since then, she’s been applying her methods to hundreds of other people, this time not only students of languages, but basically anyone who wants to get fluent in a language they’ve been learning for some years without success. And the method seems to be working very well. Her way of learning languages requires no talent, no special skills, just a bit of polyglots’ know-how and a good system in one’s learning. Lýdia believes that in this way, almost anyone can turn into a successful autodidact. People who had been struggling with a language even for 20 years, find a way to fall for that language again, spend as much as 10:00 hours a week with the language, and achieve a visible improvement in a few weeks – merely by taking over the responsibility for their own learning. In the talk, she will share how this works in practice.

A practical workshop in the GoldList method (with David J. James) Thursday, 15:00 The Goldlist method is a unique method to learn (not only!) vocabulary to your long- term memory without memorizing anything, merely by writing and rewriting lists of words in regular intervals. It is based on the fact that you can’t force your long-term memory to remember anything – just let it pick whatever it wants to remember. The method is very simple and it works amazingly. It has gained thousands of fans all over the world who find it a true revolution in learning vocabulary. In this practical workshop, David, the founder of the method, and Lýdia, the method’s biggest promoter, will show you how to apply it in practice – all you need is a notebook and a pen. If you’ve ever tried it and you’re not sure what you did wrong, the workshop will answer all your questions. Madeline Vadkerty

Madeline Vadkerty conducted research for the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC for six years. Her foreign language skills and previous experience in the diplomatic service enabled her to collect Holocaust documents, artifacts and testimonies in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Russia, Italy, France, Serbia, Croatia and Poland. Madeline has also worked as a fundraiser and interpreter in a Washington, DC torture treatment center and a business development director at a community interpreter training facility in Baltimore. Originally from the United States, Madeline now volunteers at the Milan Simecka Foundation and the Holocaust Documentation Center in Bratislava. She is currently researching her book about the Holocaust in Slovakia, to be printed in 2019. List of talks and speakers 49

L’utilisation de nos talents linguistiques pour créer un monde plus tolérant : l’étude de documents concernant l’Holocauste Sunday, 11:00 Pendant notre réunion l’année dernière, j’ai fait une présentation sur l’usage des langues étrangères pour rendre le monde meilleur et comment on peut utiliser nos talents linguistiques pour aider ceux qui ont subi la torture. Cette année, notre sujet sera notre capacité à promouvoir la tolérance humaine en se servant de l’histoire de l’Holocauste comme exemple. La documentation de ces crimes contre l’humanité existe dans plus de 100 langues ! Aujourd’hui, notre monde est témoin d’une hausse alarmante de la haine, de l’anti- sémitisme et de l’extrémisme. L’histoire de l’Holocauste n’a jamais été aussi pertinente. On parlera du fait que nos connaissances en langues étrangères nous permettent de rendre cette histoire plus accessible à plus de gens et pourquoi c’est si important. Parfois les recherches dans les archives peuvent donner l’impression qu’on est assis dans la poussière de temps lointains entourés de papiers et de photographies. Rien n’est moins vrai. En fait, en examinant de plus en plus profondément ce monde documentaire, on se rend compte que c’est plutôt une activité de détective ! Au cours de cette présentation, nous explorerons quelques preuves de cette histoire troublante de l’humanité que j’ai trouvées pendant mes recherches et je ferai un lien avec les carrières actuelles dans les droits humains. Madeline Vadkerty, Lissie Doerrer, Vahagn Petrosyan and Sayf Camran

Lissie Doerrer of Germany is a freelance simultaneous interpreter at the European Union in Brussels, where she endeavors to breathe life and personality into a wide variety of specialist topics. Her career spans thirty five years, different modes of interpreting and several types of markets (Deutsch).

Vahagn Petrosyan of Armenia is also an old hand with nearly thirty years of freelance experience, 20 of which as a simultaneous interpreter for the EU, the UN, the Council of Europe and Armenian government agencies (English). Madeline Vadkerty from the US represents the truly human face of interpreting. Part of a long ranging career, she worked as a community interpreter for survivors of torture and was instrumental in helping them make a new life for themselves in Washington, DC.

Interpreters at Work Saturday, 15:00 Find out about the challenging and riveting work of real-life interpreters in this interactive trilingual panel discussion. We will be showing slides about our work and discussing the ins and outs of our interpreting lives: How to train, prepare for an assignment, deal with stress, teamwork, work-life balance, the joys and the pitfalls, earning potential, health insurance and retirement. Feel free to ask anything you ever wanted to know about the different options in the field of interpreting. 50 List of talks and speakers

Małgorzata Długosz

Małgorzata is finishing her BA studies in german philology. She is mostly interested in Austrian literature, art, fashion, traveling and analog photography, but also fascinated about history of languages. Because of the fact, that she is bilingual, she is looking for similarities and differences between her two native languages: german and polish. That’s why she decided to take her speech theme from a different science area then she is used to work with. She is still searching for her way in life, that is why she stays open- minded and is committed to everything what she is doing.

Das Schlesische und seine deutschen Einflüsse Thursday, 10:00 Der schlesische Dialekt ist sehr unterschiedlich im ganzen schlesischen Gebiet. Den größten Unterschied sieht man zwischen dem Ober- und Niederschlesischen. Dieser ist historisch bedingt. Auf dem Gebiet, das länger zu Deutschland, als zu Polen gehört hat, bemerkt man, dass der deutsche Wortschatz häufiger gebraucht wird als der polnische – „gebrauchuje niemieckie ausdrucki”. Da ich väterlicherseits mit dem Schlesischen verbunden bin, habe ich beschlossen, nachdem ich im letzten Jahr eine Rede zu meiner Zweisprachigkeit gehalten habe, dieses Jahr einen Vortrag über den schlesischen Dialekt zu halten. Während meines Vortrags will ich die deutschen Einflüsse auf das Schlesische und Merkmale dieses Dialekts zeigen. Wichtig sind vor allem auch die bis heute aufrechterhaltenen Traditionen und Bräuche, und die mit der Sprache verbundene Kultur. Ich will aber auch darüber sprechen, von welcher Bedeutung dieser Dialekt ist und warum er als separate Sprache anerkannt werden möchte. List of talks and speakers 51

Marek Blahuš

Marek Blahuš is a Czech programmer with specialization in Nat- ural Language Processing. He works for Lexical Computing, the developer of the Sketch Engine, a corpus query software. In that capacity, he is daily learning about new languages and making them processable through the computer, in some cases for the first time in history. He is an avid speaker of Esperanto, an early adopter of Toki Pona, and a former board member of Polyglot Gathering’s organizer E@I.

Corpus linguistics for language lovers (Sketch Engine) Thursday, 17:00 A text corpus is a large and structured collection of texts useful for studying a language in action. Sketch Engine is an on-line corpus manager and text analysis software for searching and building such corpora. It comes bundled with 500+ corpora for more than 80 languages. The biggest ones (English) reach the size of 20 billion words, the smaller ones focus on specific domains (such as news, medicine, Brexit, learner texts) and smaller languages (such as Catalan, Tamil, Maori or N’Ko). This demo will teach you how to use a corpus in Sketch Engine to learn about a language, explore the behavior of a word, look for authentic examples of a particular form, find a translation in a parallel corpus or easily extract subject specific vocabulary from a document. You can even use Sketch Engine to create your own corpus of texts that you have written or in a language that you fancy – and then study it using the same tools. The developers are also looking for enthusiastic speakers of various languages willing to help evaluate new corpora as they are being added. Participants are encouraged to bring their own internet-enabled devices if they want to test the tool’s capabilities on the spot. Maria Spantidi

Maria was born and raised in Greece. She could only speak Greek and English until the age of 20. She then caught the language learning bug after a spontaneous decision to start learning Spanish online for free. 5 years and several languages later, her life changed completely as she transformed from an unemployed self-loathing Engineering student to a passionate language enthusiast who worked with well- known language sites, was interviewed on Basque radio/TV, was featured in a schoolbook because of a video of her speaking Basque, and now wants to help others discover how life-changing language learning can be.

Shy perfectionists can learn, too: How to learn languages despite your internal struggles Friday, 11:00 Are you too shy to learn a language? Are you afraid to make mistakes? Does the idea of chatting to native speakers online or face-to-face instantly make you feel nervous and uncomfortable? Do you feel that your internal struggles prevent you from learning 52 List of talks and speakers

languages effectively? If you have any of these traits, fear not; I have them all, plus some more, and yet I learned to speak 6 languages after 5 years of studying them for free (even though I still feel bad for not knowing a single one of them perfectly). Some people say creativity thrives during hard times, and this is what always kept me going every time I wanted to give up. I will show you how to focus your energy on actually learning rather than trying to overcome your limiting beliefs, how not to let these beliefs get in the way of your language learning journey, plus some creative tips and tricks that have worked for me and will hopefully make your journey what it’s supposed to be, first and foremost: fun! Marta Melnyk

Marta is a person of many interests and talents. Among others, language learning, translating and singing. She speaks 5 languages fluently and has basic knowledge of many others. Marta is a former language teacher, Advanced Communicator and an experienced public speaker, so her workshops are interesting and informative. On daily basis, Marta does a lot of different stuff. One of her favourite is dancing. She dances Belly dance, Dancehall and Hula/ Ori Tahiti. She practices also freestyle dancing. Marta went a path from a person who was shy to dance to someone who can’t live without moving to the dance rhythm. Marta is an experienced public speaker, so she knows have to make workshops joyful, but also informative. Come and you’ll agree.

Ukrainian with Disney (all levels) Thursday, 17:00 f you Can’t wait to be king of languages? If you want to explore, what is Under the sea of languages? If you want to Try everything? Come to my workshop and experience all Colors of the Wind in Ukrainian. Together with great Disney characters, we’ll discuss the translations of Disney songs, learn new words and quotes, and even sing our favorite songs from childhood. I guarantee a fairytale fun! :) It is going to be an interactive workshop. This workshop is good for all levels, so don’t worry if you don’t know Ukrainian yet.Do you still see any obstacles? Or anything stops you from attending? Let it go and a Whole new world will open for you!

Dance is the language of the soul Sunday, 11:00 Body language is a popular field of investigations and learning. We learn how to hide or understand a lie, how to give an open or hidden message with gestures and mimics, how to influence people with nonverbal communication. This dance workshop will teach you how to feel more confident in your body, how to move and feel it. Dancing is a skill that you cannot hide, but which helps to be more confident and attractive. With dancing learning, you only gain. I’ll explain and show some moves which can make a whole story. We’ll discuss some interesting features of different dances. Let’s practice together. Just take comfortable clothes and shoes. Remember, once you dance, you will never want stop. List of talks and speakers 53

Maryline Lengert

Maryline Lengert is French and has been working at the European Space Agency in Italy for over 25 years. Learning languages is one of her hobbies and finding quality time for doing it is a permanent struggle. She is currently preparing the Chinese HSK5 exam while studying Japanese.

Revisiting the Bullet Journal for language learning / Adapter un « Bullet Journal » pour l’apprentissage des langues Sunday, 10:00 Language learning is time demanding and time is, for most of us, a scarce resource nowadays. Learn how to use a bullet journal for setting your language learning goals and keeping a close look at your progress. The workshop will be hands-on and by the end of the session you will have set up realistic yearly, monthly and weekly goals and a clear plan to keep track of them on a daily basis. The talk will be in French. Apprendre une langue demande du temps et le temps est, pour la plupart d’entre nous, une ressource rare de nos jours. Apprenez à utiliser un « Bullet Journal » pour définir vos objectifs et surveiller leur avancement. À la fin de ce workshop qui sera pratique et interactif, vous aurez fixé des objectifs réalistes annuels, mensuels et hebdomadaires ainsi qu’un plan clair pour suivre vos progrès au quotidien. Matthew Schleifer

Matthew is a language enthusiast and aspiring polyglot. Growing up in a multilingual environment he became interested in languages early on. Today his interest in language learning has taken him around the world to study languages in several countries. His current language interests include German and Spanish. If you see Matthew around the Gathering stop him to say halo / hola!

Canada – A Multilingual Country (With 2 Official Languages) Saturday, 12:00 You might have heard Canada is a bilingual Country. More accurately, Canada is a multilingual country with English and French as it’s two official national languages. However, Canada’s rich linguistic diversity goes beyond French and English. From Cantonese to Mandarin to Punjabi and beyond, Canada’s history of multilingualism is as old as the country itself. This presentation will go over the languages and language trends – past and present, that shape Canadian multilingualism. 54 List of talks and speakers

Mircea Lungu

Mircea lives the Netherlands where he teaches computer science at the University of Groningen. Before living in Netherlands, he lived in Bern, the capital of Switzerland where he learned German only to realize that bernese people speak Berndüütsch insteda. Before that he learned Italian while studying for his PhD in the Italian speaking part of Switzerland. And yet before that he lived in Romania where he learned French and English and Java.

Following the News in Five Languages: An App, A Research Project, and an Invitation. Saturday, 17:00 Once you’re intermediate in a foreign language, reading materials in textbooks is too boring, while randomly chosen materials on the internet is most often too complicated. Ideally one could read materials that are personally interesting which are exactly at their level of knowledge... maybe a bit above this level even, in the zone of proximal development, as psychologists call it, because this is one way to improve. Zeeguu (www.zeeguu.unibe.ch) is a research project that supports learners in reading materials in foreign languages by enabling them to find texts (news, blogs, etc.) which are at the right difficulty level while at the same bringing translations (literally) at their fingertips. The system was initially designed for learners of a foreign language, but with time we realized that it can be used just as well by learners of multiple languages too. Mireille Grosjean

Talkative polyglot. Nomad without animals. She travels all over the world and gives courses and speeches. She is president of the International League of Esperanto Instructors. She speaks 6,2 languages.

Comparaison entre deux langues planifiées: Rumantsch Grischun et Esperanto Friday, 17:00 La quatrième langue officielle de Suisse est le romanche. Mais en fait, il y a cinq idiomes romanches. Les sauver tous ? Impossible. Pour cette raison, la Ligue Romanche et la Confédération suisse ont commandé au linguistique Schmidt de créer un « espéranto » sur la base de ces cinq idiomes. Mireille va donc comparer la naissance et le développement du Rumantsch Grischun (1985) et l’évolution de l’espéranto (1887). List of talks and speakers 55

Miroslav Šedivý

Programmiersprachen für Polyglotten: eine Einführung Thursday, 15:00 Du sprichst zwei, fünf, zwanzig Sprachen, hast aber noch nie eine Programmiersprache gesehen? Wir schauen uns an, wie so eine Programmiersprache überhaupt aussieht und wofür man sie verwendet. Als Beispiel nehmen wir Python, eine exzellente Sprache für absolute Anfänger, so wie für erfahrene Wissenschaftler, Webentwickler, Datenbank- und Systemadministratoren. Du kannst deinen Laptop mitbringen oder dich einfach zurücklehnen und der Poesie dieser Programmiersprache zuhören. Wir fangen bei Null an und am Ende schreiben wir zusammen ein einfaches Übersetzungsprogramm oder einen Vokabulartrainer. Nacho Caballero

Nacho helps people get out of Spanish Intermediate purgatory. Over the past two years he has been writing engaging blog posts, recording unconventional Spanish videos and interacting with hundreds of students all over the world. He recently moved to Barcelona and is currently developing a web application to make learning advanced Spanish a much more enjoyable experience.

Sácale todo el jugo a tus sesiones de español Friday, 15:00 Hay muchas formas de pasar media hora aprendiendo español pero no todas ofrecen los mismos resultados. Si tuvieras seis años y pudieras pasarte el día entero rodeado de hispanohablantes, acabarías hablando un español perfecto — aunque tu única estrategia fuera ver vídeos de Peppa Pig. En cambio, si tienes que ir a trabajar cinco días a la semana y todo el mundo a tu alrededor habla inglés, vas a tener que aprovechar tu tiempo al máximo para poder salir del purgatorio del nivel intermedio. En este taller vamos a ver cómo convertir la experiencia pasiva de leer o escuchar algo en español en una sesión de aprendizaje activo. Lo haremos trabajando con una misma historia desde distintos puntos de vista: desde qué hacer para mejorar tu pronunciación a cómo interiorizar las estructuras gramaticales más complejas. Espero que cuando terminemos el taller tengas ganas de seguir practicando por tu cuenta (eso sí, antes probablemente te haga falta un descansito, porque te aseguro que la sesión será intensa). 56 List of talks and speakers

Nicolas Viau

Curious about everything and eclectic by nature, Nicolas has long been passionate about languages. Born in France, he has spent over half of his life in Quebec and now lives in Montreal. His strong interest in international and language-related issues drove him to learn Esperanto a few years ago. He is now president of the Quebec Esperanto Society and vice- president of the local committee for the 2020 World Esperanto Congress in Montreal. He is fluent in French, English, Esperanto and Spanish, can get by in Portuguese and German and has notions of several other languages. His educational background is in physics and in environmental management, and he now works for a renewable energy firm. A member of the LangFest team in Montreal, he occasionally shares his thoughts, language-related or not, on his blog at ideesmultiples.ca. Nicolas is furthermore also interested in history, geography, politics, economics and philosophy. He enjoys city walks and conversation, whatever the language!

Les grands espaces linguistiques du monde Sunday, 12:00 Survol des grands espaces linguistiques mondiaux et des effets du rapport de force entre eux sur les relations entre les peuples. Présentation en français. Niels Johannes Legarth Iversen

Niels J. L. Iversen has a cand.mag. degree in French and Literature from 1982, but dropped language studies for 25 years due to dubious job prospects at the university level. He resumed his linguistic activities in 2006 as a dedicated amateur with an immense log thread at HTLAL, but has since then moved his activities to Language-Learners.org. His main focus is now on successively learning all the European languages, primarily as written languages, but at a level where they can be resuscitated for use during travels.

La géographie et histoire des langues européennes Thursday, 11:00 La plupart des langues europénnes appartiennent à la famille indo-européenne, mais avec quelques exceptions importantes. À l’aide de l’archéologie et de la génétique, on peut commencer à comprendre pourquoi la géographie linguistique du continent est devenue telle qu’elle est. En 2017, j’ai parlé de l’histoire des langues germaniques. Cette fois-ci, je vais essayer de les situer dans un contexte plus large. List of talks and speakers 57

Olga Diacova

Olga Diacova is bilingual, having both Russian and Romanian as mother tongues. She has studied English as a second language. Olga graduated from a Russian School and the Romanian Faculty of State Medical University of Moldova. In the meanwhile, she was studying German. Then she moved to Poland, where she graduated from English Philology at Philological School of Higher Education in Wroclaw, being taught in English and Polish. By that time, she had become interested in Dutch, which is now her fifth fluently spoken language. Olga has basic knowledge of Finnish. Recently, she has started studying Swedish.

Slavic inflections: An introduction to Russian and Polish languages Sunday, 12:00 Have you ever studied Russian language? Maybe you have studied any other Slavic language? For an English speaker, Slavic languages may seem pretty hard to be studied, taking into account the number of conjugations and declensions. Slavic language group is characterised by inflexion (the process or device of adding affixes to or changing the shape of a base to give it a different syntactic function without changing its form class), which means changing endings in function of gender (feminine, masculine or neutral), number (singular or plural) and case (nominative or genitive, etc). However, it has a logic explanation and therefore can be understood if carefully studied. During my small talk I am going to give you a short tutorial on learning to speak Slavic languages, providing particular examples of Russian and Polish expressions. You will learn how to change any word according to the information concerning its grammatical features, such as gender, number and case. You will find out, that the majority of parts of the speech – nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. – have to come through certain changes when being inflected to be used in a sentence. No matter your language background, feel free to participate in this workshop and learn some basis of Russian and Polish languages, hope it will be fun! Olivia Sumich

Olivia is a New Zealander of Croatian, British, Portuguese and French descent with a world music and culture loving soul. In New Zealand she is a multicultural and multilingual event organiser and language teacher. She has developed her own methodology: ‘Just 500 Words’ and is trialing it by teaching herself Croatian (last year) and German (later this year). Her events include ‘Songs From the Old Country’ (encouraging local migrant musicians to perform their traditional music), ‘Lingo Teatro’ (plays performed in multiple languages), Mundo Lingo (a multilingual social). She is also sings and dances various styles from all over the world. 58 List of talks and speakers

The Polyglot Singalong Thursday, 12:00 An opportunity to learn songs in different languages and to enjoy singing them together. If you have a ukulele or guitar and you already play to an intermediate level, please bring your instrument as well! Song lyrics with guitar and ukulele chords will be projected. A limited number of songbooks will be printed for people to take away, otherwise the the songbook will be shared online. Languages will include: Te Reo Maori, Croatian, French, Spanish, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese. If you have an easy song in another language you would like to include please contact me in advance!

Polyglots Dance Around the World Friday, 11:00 An opportunity to learn more than 10:00 dance styles from around the world in one workshop! In this workshop you will learn the basic steps to a traditional Māori dance from Aotearoa / New Zealand, Čačak kolo from Serbia, Forró & Samba from Brazil, Merengue and Bachata from the Dominican Republic, Salsa & Rumba from Cuba, Tango from Argentina, Shopsko horo from Bulgaria and a dancehall routine from Jamaica. No partners needed (I will pair you up for the partner dances and rotate partners). Please bring water and socks to dance in or shoes with smooth, non-grip soles. There will be a Spotify playlist with all the songs from the class distributed after the class. You are welcome to video the steps while I am teaching them so you can practice at home. This will be SO much fun – don’t miss this workshop!!! Oscar Hughes Oscar Hughes’ passion for language learning became apparent at age 11/12, when he started to use German within a few months of starting to learn it and decided to teach himself Finnish in preparation for a family holiday. Though he underestimated the time required to develop a functional vocabulary in that language, he has managed to learn 9 other languages to at least ~B2 and receive a Bachelor’s degree in Modern Languages at Cambridge University. Still at Cambridge, he is now at the end of a Master’s in Linguistics involving a thesis on gender systems in European languages.

Die Sprachenfrage in Europa: Chancen, Gefahren und Zukunftsperspektiven eines English-only Europe Thursday, 12:00 Führt der unaufhaltsame Siegeszug des Englischen zu einer offeneren oder homogene- ren (Wissenschafts-)welt? Steckt hinter der Fassade der leichten Kommunikation eine bestimmte Weltanschauung, die den Satzbau, den Aufbau von Texten und die theoreti- schen Annahmen bestimmt? Werden alle anderen Wissenschaftssprachen zu Sprachen zweiter Klasse, oder haben sie zumindest in bestimmten Bereichen noch eine Zukunft? Fördert die Verwendung der Landessprachen die Kommunikation zwischen Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft? Welche Sprachen werden tatsächlich in den europäischen Einrichtun- gen verwendet und in welchem Ausmaß? Welche sprachpolitische Bündnisse kämpfen List of talks and speakers 59

für oder gegen die Anwendung des Englischen in welchen Bereichen und wie erfolgreich sind sie? Inwiefern wird das internationale Englisch immer noch durch den Sprachge- brauch der Muttersprachler bestimmt? Kommt dem verschwommenen Konzept English as a Lingua Franca wirklich eine große Bedeutung zu? Ist eine nähere Bestimmung rea- listisch? Was für eine Rolle sollte das Englische auf diesem Treffen spielen? Oung-Heng Heng

Oung-Heng Heng grew up speaking Teochew at home. Although not fluent in the language, he took part during his University days in an international online project for Teochew speaker. It consisted in discussions about phonology and grammar with other Teochew people in China, America, Australia and New Zealand and who were passionate about their own linguistic heritage. Together they also devised a way for Romanisation. These dicussion have enriched his knowledge about the structure of Teochew he was not aware of. He now wishes to share this knowledge with the language enthusiasts of the world.

Chinese and Japanese calligraphy Friday, 10:00 In this workshop, the basics of Chinese and Japanese calligraphy will be presented and you will have the opportunity to practice drawing their best strokes. If you believe you know how to write the hanzi and kanji, let’s take your skill to another level and you might also find out that you were taught the wrong stroke order for beautiful writing.

Teochew: the other Minnan Chinese Friday, 17:00 Teochew is a variant of Southern Min spoken in the province of Guangdong and more specifically in the Chaoshan region. It is also spoken in SE Asia, Europe (mostly France) and Northern America. It is said to have 12-15 million speakers around the globe. Like Taiwanese, Teochew has preserved archaic features lost in other modern varieties of Chinese and borrowed vocabulary from Austroasiatic and Austronesian languages. During this talk, this language and its characteristics (watch out for extensive tone sandhi!) will be presented. This talk will be partly held in Teochew (with English subtitle) and English. Pablo Román

Pablo fell in love with languages when he was living in Japan for 4 years, and realized that there’s a better and more fun way of learning them. Now he is an advocate for more effective learning methods and produces Spanish learning videos to fill the gap that exists in fun and authentic resources for beginner and intermediate learners. 60 List of talks and speakers

How I learned 2000 Chinese characters in 50 days, and you can too Sunday, 10:00 Had you ever thought that it was possible to learn all the Chinese characters that children learn during 12 years of school in Japan and China in just a few months? I’ll show you the mnemonic technique that I used, and how you can use it too. I’ll show you how we can relate a bunch of seemingly random squiggles to things that are more familiar to us, and use that to memorize the writing of Chinese characters and make their meaning completely clear. Even shockingly similar characters that are confused all the time will become clear to us. After this talk you will see that learning to read and write an East Asian language is not as scary as many people believe it to be. Peter Baláž

Peter Baláž [ˈpεtεr ˈbala:∫], in Esperanto known as Petro, is an Esperantist, publisher and editor; he was selected as the 2012 Esperantist of the Year. Baláž lives in his hometown of Partizánske and speaks, to various degrees, Slovak, Czech, German, Polish, Russian and English, as well as Esperanto. Peter is especially active in the international Esperanto movement and educational projects, and in 2005 he became the coordinator of E@I. He is also known as an organiser of international events (mainly, but not only, Esperanto-meetings). He is a former board member of Wikimedia Slovakia and, since September 2012, a member of its Revision Committee. He owns the Slovakia-based publishing firm Espero, founded in 2003, which publishes mainly Esperanto works.

Mitoj de poliglotoj aŭ kial la tuta homaro ne estas plurlingva Saturday, 12:00 Ekzistas multaj lingvoj en la mondo – sed eĉ pli da homoj – kaj tamen nur eta procentaĵo de ili iĝas sukcesaj plurlingvuloj. Mastri vere kvalite ne nur unu-du, sed plurajn lingvojn aspektas daŭre neebla por plejmulto de la homaro. Ĉu la konsiloj kaj rekomendoj de poliglotoj povos helpi okazigi “poliglotan revolucion” ĝis tia grado, ke plurlingvuloj iĝu normo, la plejmulto de la homaro? Aŭ tamen plurlingveco plu restos nur bela utopio kaj neatingebla revo por la plejmulto? Ĉu vere iu ajn povas iĝi poligloto, aŭ eble ekzistas kelkaj mitoj, malveroj aŭ misoj, foje tro optimisme prezentataj de (kelkaj) poliglotoj? Ĉu malgraŭ tio eblas helpi al homoj atingi bonan nivelon en fremda/j lingvo/j, aldone konfidencon kaj kuraĝon por lerni, paroli, uzi fremdajn lingvojn? Kaj plue: ĉu la plurlingveco efektive havas ŝancon solvi gravajn problemojn, ligitajn kun miskomprenoj inter homoj/kulturoj/ideologioj? Ni diskutu kune la tiklan temon de lingvoj kaj sencon de ties lernado!

Meditado – kial kaj kiel ĝin praktiki? Saturday, 15:00 Meditado – vorto kun malsamaj signifo-komprenoj kaj foje miskomprenoj. Pri kio fakte temas? Kiel ĝi efikas? Kiaj metodoj mediti ekzistas? Kio estas ĝia celo? Ĉu ĝi povas utili al homaro en proksima tempo kaj se jes, kiel? Ĉu la cerbo povas esti efike trejnata kaj ŝanĝiĝi? Kion signifas kaj ĉu lerneblas “aktiva nenifarado”? Nuntempa List of talks and speakers 61

evoluo de neuro-sciencoj lastatempe rapide progresis kaj danke al tio venas pli kaj pli da sciencaj esploroj kaj pruvoj pri la utileco kaj uzeblo de meditado. Ni rigardos meditadon ankaŭ laŭeble science – iĝos observantoj de propra konscio kaj je propra sperto povos vidi, kiaj estas pruvitaj avantaĝoj de meditado kaj kiel ĝin utiligi en ĉiutaga vivo. Petr Fedosov

Petr Fedosov, 13 years old. He is fond of linguistics and constructed languages, especially Esperanto. Polyglot.

Polyglots: the Beginning / Poliglotoj: la Komenco / Полиглоты: начало Friday, 12:00 All polyglots once started to be polyglots. In my workshop, we will talk about it. We will discuss the stories I collected about how people all over the world started to be polyglots, and you will share yours, too. I can’t wait to see you and to hear your stories! Yes, you, the one reading this! Ĉiuj poliglotoj iam komencis esti poliglotoj. Du mia ateliero ni priparolos tion. Ni pridiskutos la historiojn, kolektitajn de mi pri tio, kiel la homoj el la tuta mondo komencis esti poliglotoj, kaj vi interŝanĝiĝos per la viaj. Mi estos ĝojega vidi vin kaj aŭskulti viajn historiojn! Jes, vin, la homon, legantan tion! Все полиглоты когда-то начали быть полиглотами. Во время моего воркшопа мы поговорим об этом. Мы обсудим истории, собранные мной, о том, как люди со всего света стали полиглотами, кроме того, вы сможете поделиться вашими. С нетерпением жду вас и ваших историй! Да, именно вас, того, кто читает это!

What? Where? When? / Kio? Kie? Kiam? / Что? Где? Когда? Saturday, 11:00 Do you want practise tour mind during Polyglot Gathering while taking part in traditional intellectual game “What? Where? When?”? It has already conquered the hearts of many people and, – trust me, – it will cohquer the yours, too! Come if you want to have a good time and improve your logical thinking and team spirit! Bye! Ĉu vi volas dum Polyglot Gathering trejni la cerbon, partoprenante la tradician intelektan teaman ludon “Kio? Kie? Kiam?”? Ĝi jam konkeris la korojn de multaj homoj kaj, – kredu al mi, – ĝi konkeros ankaŭ la viajn! Venu, se vi volas ne nur bone pasigi tempon, sed ankaŭ plibonigi vian logikan pensscipovon kaj teamecon! Ĝis! Хотели бы вы потренировать свой мозг во время Pоlyglot Gathering, участвуя в традиционной интеллектуальной игре «Что? Где? Когда?»? Она уже завоевала сердца многих и, – поверьте мне, – она завоюет и ваши! Приходите, если вы хотите не только хорошо провести время, но и улучшить своё логическое мыш- ление и чувство команды! Жду! 62 List of talks and speakers

Philippe Gagneur, André Herling

Philippe Gagneur, publisher, is French and grew up in Paris. He came to Germany in 1982 and started working for Assimil in 1991. He lives in Cologne, Germany, where he designs the German adaptions of the Assimil courses as well as German language courses for foreigners, together with a small team of polyglots. When he went to school it was very hard for him to learn German and later English, so he experienced the difficulties of language learning at first hand – one reason why he considers it very important to create language courses for everybody, not only for young people and talented learners.

Mehrere Sprachen parallel lernen und gleichzeitig pflegen. Friday, 16:00 Ellen Jovin definiert einen Teil der Polyglotten als die Gruppe der „Ich lerne eine neue Sprache, dafür vergesse ich eine andere“. Wie soll man aber die bisher erworbenen Sprachkenntnisse regelmäßig und sinnvoll pflegen, und dies parallel zu allen Verpflichtungen des Privat- und Berufslebens, die das moderne Leben mit sich bringt? Philippe Gagneur stellt uns einen Polyglotten vor, der nicht nur in relativ kurzer Zeit mit Assimil mehrere Sprachen gelernt hat, sondern sich auch als Ziel gesetzt hat, sie zu erhalten und soweit und so oft wie möglich aktiv anzuwenden. Sein Motto ist “Es lohnt sich schließlich nicht, eine Sprache zu lernen, die man sowieso wieder vergisst”. In seinem Vortrag berichtet er über seine Lernerfahrungen und Lernerfolge. Er wird uns verraten, welche Lernmittel er dafür eingesetzt hat und wie er sich zeitlich organisiert, um eine gesunde Balance zwischen allen erlernten Sprachen zu bewahren. Eine geballte Ladung Tricks und Tipps in einer kurzweiligen Präsentation. Der Vortrag wird auf Deutsch gehalten. Am Ende des Vortrags werden Fragen gern beantwortet, auch wenn sie in anderen Sprachen gestellt werden (dies gilt ausnahmesweise auch für Fragen auf Englisch). Renate Hafemann

Renate’s passion for languages began with a degree in British Literature, but her interests have since shifted to languages of the far and middle east. She is currently studying Farsi at an intermediate level. Renate discovered teaching through song when she volunteered as a German teacher for refugees, where she also got to know and fell in love with Iranian and Afghan culture, food and music.

An Introduction to the Persian Language through Singing Saturday, 11:00 Be my guests and experience Shabe Yalda, the Persian winter solstice celebration. A night filled with poetry, song, tea and sweets. Through studying and singing a well- known, melancholic Iranian Rock Classic, you will gain a basic understanding of the Persian language, including its pronunciation, its grammar and its poetic qualities. List of talks and speakers 63

We will study the first four lines of the song in depth and skim the rest of the lyrics for interesting grammar points and similarities with other Indo-European languages, while reinforcing what you have already learned. Throughout the workshop we will sing parts of Kourosh Yaghmaei’s “Gole Yakh” with guitar accompaniment, ending with a full rendition of the song. A handout of the lyrics, including transliteration and English translation, will be provided. Richard Simcott

Richard Simcott is the founder of the Polyglot Conference and works for a social media management agency called The Social Element as their Languages Director. He has studied over 50 languages to varying degrees and has appeared in a number of international media pieces on various topics related to language learning and its practical implications.

A Talent for Languages Saturday, 17:00 A look into what a talent for languages actually means and how we can learn from it.

Rick Dearman

Rick Dearman is the administrator of the largest language learners forum on the Internet today. An IT Director by day, and a language learner by night, Rick is currently battling his way through the intermediate stages of French and Italian

Secret Missions when you visit a Target Language country. Thursday, 17:00 A participant workshop where I’ll present a number “secret missions” you can accomplish when visiting somewhere your target language is spoken. Fun and unusual ways to get natives to speak to you and to push you out of your comfort zone. Audience participation is highly encouraged, and we’ll try to develop even more secret missions!

Apprenants intermédiaires, démoralisation et démotivation. Friday, 11:00 Le stade intermédiaire de l’apprentissage des langues est la partie la plus longue et la plus difficile. C’est durant cette phase que l’apprenant est le plus susceptible d’abandon- ner, en raison de la démoralisation ou de la démotivation. Cette présentation explorera les raisons de la démotivation et discutera des stratégies pour persévérer et surmonter les problèmes. 64 List of talks and speakers

Ruslan Kokorin

Ruslan Kokorin was born and raised in Russia. From 1998- 2015 lived in the UK and Ireland. In 2015 he quit his job in IT and moved to Cyprus to become a language coach. He has been coaching Russians who want to learn English since then. Ruslan had a number of talks at on-line conferences and at the Polyglot Gatherings. In 2017 Ruslan was one of the organizers and a speaker at the LinguaHackers conference.

Как полиглоты учат языки. Обзор разных методов. Thursday, 12:00 Сколько полиглотов столько и способов учить языки? Многих изучающих язык волнует вопрос «как лучше всего учить иностранный язык?». Что лучше «говорить с первого дня» или сначала подготовиться к разговору? Смотреть сериалы или много читать? Давайте посмотрим, какие же подходы и методы используют полиглоты. На этом выступлении мы разберем: • Какие основные подходы популярны сейчас • Критерии эффективности методов • Психологическая совместимость с тем или иным методом • Как выбрать метод для своих «языковых задач» Santiago Diossa Muñoz

Santiago Diossa Muñoz is a passionate English teacher who currently lives and works in Madrid, where he has been teaching for 7 years. He was born in Colombia but grew up in Spain. He has also lived in many different countries such as Germany, France, Nor- way and Italy He feels comfortable speaking in German, Roma- nian, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese and Modern Greek. He holds a Master´s Degree in Spanish teaching by the University of La Rioja (Spain) as well as a CELTA certification in English teaching. His love for languages and his multicultural background makes him extremely curious about other cultures and, most of all, about their languages.

Journey through the history of Language Learning. Friday, 12:00 How did our grandparents learn languages? In the 19th century the method usually used to teach languages was to translate and read the classics, what was it like to learn a language then? This system evolved in the second half of the 19th century when many immigrants in the USA had to learn English, how did they do it? In the 20th century there were many other methods, some of which might surprise you! But, what is considered the best method nowadays? How do we learn better? What makes a good language course worth it? We will talk about how and why language learning and teaching has changed in the past 200 years up to now. This will be an interactive and fun talk in which you will be welcomed to share experiences and we will take part together in this incredible journey through the History of Language Learning. List of talks and speakers 65

Ruslan Kokorin Silver Ilves

Ruslan Kokorin was born and raised in Russia. From 1998- Silver is a tech enthusiast and an aspiring polyglot. He has studied 2015 lived in the UK and Ireland. In 2015 he quit his job in IT informatics, economics and worked the past 10 years in tech and moved to Cyprus to become a language coach. He has been companies. He recently founded Magliclingua, with the mission coaching Russians who want to learn English since then. Ruslan to help language learners to speed up the process of becoming had a number of talks at on-line conferences and at the Polyglot fluent by chatting with voice bots. Gatherings. In 2017 Ruslan was one of the organizers and a speaker at the LinguaHackers conference. When will AI powered voice-bots replace humans in language teaching? Как полиглоты учат языки. Обзор разных методов. Sunday, 16:00 Thursday, 12:00 Hey Google, Siri and Alexa, do you want to teach me? New technologies are changing Сколько полиглотов столько и способов учить языки? all parts of our lives and learning languages will be no exception to this change. Многих изучающих язык волнует вопрос «как лучше всего учить иностранный Particularly the rapidly emerging technologies in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, язык?». Что лучше «говорить с первого дня» или сначала подготовиться к Voice Recognition and Natural Language Understanding will change the way we learn разговору? Смотреть сериалы или много читать? Давайте посмотрим, какие же languages in the future. Coming from books and paper flashcards, the audio CDs were подходы и методы используют полиглоты. На этом выступлении мы разберем: once a hot innovation. So was the first language software we installed on our Windows • Какие основные подходы популярны сейчас 95 and later the cool apps on our smartphones. Will it end here? No. We are now about • Критерии эффективности методов to see the rise of AI-powered digital teachers and voice-bots that will try to outpace • Психологическая совместимость с тем или иным методом the humans. • Как выбрать метод для своих «языковых задач» Did you know that some voice recognition technologies today can transcribe a speaking person with a higher accuracy than humans themselves? But will they also understand Santiago Diossa Muñoz the meaning? Be able to connect on the emotional level? Find it out in this talk which is about the past, present and the future of language learning. About technology and its Santiago Diossa Muñoz is a passionate English teacher who cur- limitations it strives to overcome. rently lives and works in Madrid, where he has been teaching for 7 years. He was born in Colombia but grew up in Spain. He has also Simon Ager lived in many different countries such as Germany, France, Nor- way and Italy He feels comfortable speaking in German, Roma- Simon Ager has been fascinated by language and languages for as nian, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese and Modern Greek. He long as he can remember. He has studied quite a few languages, holds a Master´s Degree in Spanish teaching by the University of La and linguistcs, and since 1998, he has been running Omniglot. Rioja (Spain) as well as a CELTA certification in English teaching. com, the online encyclopedia of writing systems and languages. His love for languages and his multicultural background makes He has also invented a number of alphabets, and is currently him extremely curious about other cultures and, most of all, about their languages. constructing a language.

Journey through the history of Language Learning. Deconstructing language Friday, 12:00 Friday, 11:00 How did our grandparents learn languages? In the 19th century the method usually Language enables you to talk about an almost infinite number of things with a finite number used to teach languages was to translate and read the classics, what was it like to learn of words. How does it manage this? This talk will take language apart, look at the indivdual a language then? This system evolved in the second half of the 19th century when components, give them a poke, and explore how they can be combined to form meaningful many immigrants in the USA had to learn English, how did they do it? In the 20th utterances. We will also consider the origins of words, and how their meanings can change century there were many other methods, some of which might surprise you! But, what over time. is considered the best method nowadays? How do we learn better? What makes a good This talk will be suitable at a general audience with an interest in languages. No background language course worth it? We will talk about how and why language learning and in linguistics is necessary, and any specialist terminology will be explained. teaching has changed in the past 200 years up to now. This will be an interactive and fun talk in which you will be welcomed to share experiences and we will take part together in this incredible journey through the History of Language Learning. 66 List of talks and speakers

Simon Lejeune

Simon Lejeune is a 20-year-old language enthusiast from Belgium. He started to get into languages when he was 15 and started to learn Spanish by himself. He is now doing translation/interpretation studies and is very interested in endangered languages.

Introduction to Walloon / Introduction au wallon, ou l’histoire de ces langues qui se battent pour parler au futur Saturday, 10:00 Le wallon est une langue parlée depuis plus de 1000 ans dans la majeure partie de la Wallonie, au sud de la Belgique, et dans un tout petit village en France. Il fait partie de ces langues indigènes qui souffrent entre autres de la globalisation constante. Chaque jour, des Wallons meurent, emportant avec eux leur culture et leur langue. Les jeunes ont presque totalement arrêté de le parler mais la langue est toujours utilisée aux 4 coins de la Wallonie. Cette introduction au wallon présentée par un jeune passionné par l’héritage culturel et linguistique de ses ancêtres est une invitation à apprendre les bases de cette langue latine unique teintée en de multiples aspects de traits germaniques. Stephen Artinian

Stephen is a leadership and life coach. He has coached individuals, entrepreneurs, managers, artists and students in the U.S., Canada, Italy, Spain, and Germany. He holds the qualification of Associate Certified Coach (ACC) with the International Coach Federation (ICF), the largest professional coaching organization in the world. He is certified in Brain-Based Coaching by the NeuroLeadership Institute, one of the world’s premier human performance training organizations. Brain-based coaching is about helping the client to make positive changes in their professional and personal life by improving their thinking. Stephen has worked for over 25 years in the finance and tech sectors, where he has held management and leadership roles with leading companies, including Cisco Systems, BNP Paribas-Fortis, AT&T and CIT. He has extensive international experience, having worked in Europe, North America and Latin America and speaks several languages – English, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Armenian – to varying degrees of proficiency. Stephen holds an MBA from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy and a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University in the United States. He lives in New York with his family. In his free time he practices meditation and enjoys running, animals, traveling, learning new languages and playing piano. For more information, please visit his website – stephenartiniancoaching.com. You can contact him by email at [email protected] and by phone at +1 914 420 1291.

Neuro-plasticità e implicazioni nell’apprendimento delle lingue. Saturday, 16:00 Fino a venti anni fa si pensava che il cervello umano fosse statico in eta’ adulta. Ora sappiamo che questo non e’ vero. Attraverso la neuroplasticita’ il nostro cervello List of talks and speakers 67

forma nuove connessioni e circuiti neurali per tutta la vita. In fatti, il cervello e’ una “connection machine”, e forma mappe neurali complesse e mappe di altre mappe che registrano e catalogano ogni esperienza, pensiero e emozione che abbiamo vissuto durante la nostra esistenza. Pertanto, osservando da vicino si puo’ constatare che nessun cervello e’ identico ad un altro. Le consequenze di cio’ sono di vasta portata anche per l’apprendimento delle lingue e, in effetti, per l’apprendimento in generale. Ad esempio, vuol dire che non esiste un metodo unico che si applichi a tutti. Ognuno di noi ha il proprio stile di apprendimento. Poiché le nostre mappe mentali esistenti sono uniche, il modo in cui formiamo associazioni a queste reti neurali esistenti sarà altamente personalizzato. Un’altra consequenza e’ che l’eta’ non costituisce una barriera all’apprendimento delle lingue come pensa ancora molta gente. Dopo un breve accenno alla teoria, condivdero’ degli esempi pratici della mia esperienza di coach professionale. Alcuni fondamentali della brain-based coaching sono: -Enfasi su quello che funzioni piuttosto che su quello che non vada. -Self-directed learning (n.b. in italiano si usa la terminolgia inglese) -Fissare obiettivi motivanti che ci sfidino e ci portino al di fuori della nostra zona di comfort. -Enfasi su soluzione piuttosto che su problema. -Obiettivi “verso” piuttosto che “via da.” Szabolcs Szilva

Szabolcs Szilva is Hungarian but also currently living in Warsaw, Poland. He spends a lot of his time with languages: he teaches, he learns, he translates. He speaks Hungarian, Esperanto, Polish, English and Finnish. His adventure started in 2007 by learning Esperanto. In his own language school, he teaches Esperanto, Hungarian and Polish, mainly for Hungarian people. He finished his studies in economics, interlinguistics and Finno-Ugric studies. He is a PHD student of the University of Warsaw.

Najczęstsze błędy Polaków uczących się języka węgierskiego Friday, 12:00 Referat ktorego jestem autorem napisany jest na postawie mojego badania w ramach pisanej przeze mnie pracy doktorskiej. Badanie przeprowadziłem na tekstach węgierskojęzycznych, napisanych przez Polaków na stronie www.lang-8.com. Ta strona służy do napisania tekstów w języku obcym, które zostaną poprawione przez rodowitych mówców bezpłatnie. Analizując te teksty wytypowałem najczęstsze błędy Polaków, które postaram się przedstawić w interesujący sposób. Wyniki moim zdaniem są ciekawe ponieważ uwzględniają różne pochodzenie i właściwości tych dwóch języków. Tatiana Mozhniakova

Tatiana Mozhniakova is a professional teacher of English and French. Not only does she enjoy teaching but she is also fond of learning languages. Tatiana was involved in the organisation of Moscow International Festival of Languages. She was responsible for the children program. She takes an active part in Esperanto events and meetings. 68 List of talks and speakers

Tatiana contributes to the International Festival of Young Polyglots in Italy. Her dream is to unite young polyglots from different countries and give them an opportunity to meet regularly in Italy, Russia, Slovakia, etc and exchange their ideas and experience.

Лингвистическая игра для полиглотов «Знаете ли вы пословицы на 11 языках (ru, sk, en, fr, es, it, de, uk, be, eo, la)?» Linguistic game «Proverbs in 11 languages» Thursday, 10:00 Перефразируя классика, хочу спросить: «Любите ли вы играть так, как люблю это я?» Если да, то эта игра – викторина для вас, веселых, любознательных, сообразительных полиглотов с чувством юмора. Игра – не только забава и развлечение, это еще и очень полезное занятие. Пословицы играют важную роль в изучении родного и иностранных языков. Они приобщают нас к человеческой мудрости. Яркие образы, созвучия слов, рифма и ритм помогают их лучше запомнить. Пословицы поражают нас необычными образами, совпадающими или нет в разных языках. Пословицы обогащают речь, делают её выразительной. Они повышают интерес к изучению языков. Do you like games, quizzes, contests? If the answer is yes, if you are a curious, quick- witted, smart, competitive, polyglot, participate in our game. Playing games is not only an amusing and exciting type of entertainment, it is also a useful and challenging activity. Proverbs are reflection and expression of wisdom. Learning proverbs plays a very important part in studying languages. Bright, expressive images, rhythm and rhyme help us learn proverbs easily. Thanks to proverbs we can enrich our vocabulary and develop speaking skills. Take part, have fun and win prizes. Tervel Zwjatkow

Tervel is a binational entrepreneur, Karate athlete, event manager, communicator, environmentalist and passionate language learner, living in Bulgaria and Germany. When not being busy teaching Spanish to University students or competing at the Karate World Championships, he uses his language skills to boost his start-ups’ marketing or teaches young Karate Kids the Japanese numbers through push-up counting in his Dojo in Sofia.The interrelated benefits from his passion for (language) learning and sport were his very own evidence that “Mens sana in corpore sano” is more than just a saying. And he wants to share those benefits with you!

Language learning with Sports Sunday, 10:00 What is one of the most universal and enjoyable types of human interaction? Sports! The same way children play together non-verbally “in the sand”, you can go to a street basketball court in Belgrade and play with locals without knowing a word of Serbian. While watching, listening and playing an immersion begins. And this immersion can be the gateway to a whole new world! It is mentally and physically enjoyable and…a great way to learn or practise a new language! Why not “KICK”-start your Japanese with a List of talks and speakers 69

Karate class? Or learn some Spanish through your first Salsa steps? The combinations are endless! Sports can make language learning easier and more fun! Learn how to stay in shape, have fun and add a language to your list with “Language learning with Sports”! Tim Morley

Tim Morley has been teaching English, French and Esperanto for 20 years. His 2012 TEDx talk about teaching Esperanto in state schools still draws viewers and comments, and his presentations at last year’s Polyglot Gathering were well received. He lives in Cambridge.

Esperanto in 100 Minutes Saturday, 15:00 So you’ve heard of Esperanto but never got round to learning it? Then now’s your chance. With zero prior knowledge required or expected, we’ll be starting from “Saluton!” and covering as much of the language as we can cram into 100 minutes which, it turns out, is quite a lot of it. It’ll be an intensive, interactive session. Lurking at the back is permitted, but active participation is strongly encouraged! Timothy Dean Keeley

Tim Keeley is a professor of cross-cultural management at Kyushu Sangyo University in Fukuoka, Japan. Though Tim was born in the U.S., he has studied, worked and travelled for 42 years around the world (South America, Western/Eastern Europe, and Asia). He studied Latin American Literature in Colombia, International Relations in Switzerland, Slavic Literature in Poland, Chinese Literature in Japan, International Business in the US, and got his Phd in Cross-Cultural Management in Australia. In recent years, Tim has been frequently trekking in the Himalayas (Nepal, India, and Tibet) and has been learning/using Nepali, Hindi, Tibetan, Sherpa and Tamang.

How many languages do you speak or know? The Numbers Game – Examining Foreign Language Proficiency and Relative Language Difficulty Friday, 12:00 Polyglots are often find it problematic to answer the question, “How many languages do you speak or know,” in a way that is truly meaningful and reflects total knowledge or ability. There are numerous issues that must be taken into consideration: Language vs. dialect. Differences in the understanding of ‘language proficiency’ and ‘fluency’. The mythical ‘native speaker model’. Domain vocabulary/knowledge. Active knowledge (speaking and writing) versus passive knowledge (listening comprehension and reading). The relative difficulty of languages in terms of lexicon, grammar, phonetics and writing systems. Target languages with many cognates and loanwords vs. languages with very few or none. Target languages with similar grammar and or phonetics vs those in which one or both are very different. In this presentation, I will explore these issues and others, while hoping to get feedback from the participants. This presentation will be in English with Slovak subtitles. 70 List of talks and speakers

The Importance of Affect (Emotions) When Functioning in Foreign Languages and Cultures Saturday, 12:00 This presentation focuses on the critical role affective factors (emotions) play in determining success or failure when functioning in foreign languages and cultures. Learning a foreign language does not happen just in the mind of the learner; rather it takes place in the interaction between the mind of the learner and the social context. Emotions are conceptualized as ongoing processes rooted in dynamic social contexts, which can shape both implicit and explicit emotional responses. Previous research by the presenter clearly demonstrated that the social, psychological and affective factors that facilitate adapting to foreign cultures also facilitate fluency in foreign languages when a sojourner must function in the host country language for such reasons as study or work. In the presentation we will take a look at the factors Emotional Resilience and Emotional Sensitivity as well as discuss other important ways our emotions can either help or hinder functioning in foreign languages and cultures. Timothy McKeon

Timothy McKeon is a translator and Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Based in Berlin, he spends his time relishing in and writing about the multitude of languages spoken around the world.

The Bengali Language Thursday, 15:00 Bengali ranks number 7 worldwide in terms of native speakers. It is the language of Ravi Shankar, Tagore, Lalon, Asima Chatterjee, Paramahansa Yogananda, and countless other artists, scientists, and thinkers who have contributed so much to the world. Why, then, does this language not get its due attention in polyglot circles? This talk will introduce some of the more interesting aspects of the Bengali language and culture with the aim of piquing your interest and encouraging more people to study Bengali. Hindi and Sanskrit will be used as points of comparison. List of talks and speakers 71

Timothy McKeon and Irena Dahl

Wikitongues: Preserving Languages and Talking to Strangers Friday, 16:00 If you could preserve the world’s cultures by simply talking to people, would you do it? In the next eighty years, as many as half the world’s languages are expected to disappear — or, in more human terms, half the world’s communities are at risk of collapse. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Wikitongues is a platform for every language in the world. We’re a network of more than 400 volunteers in 70 countries promoting the use and preservation of the more than 7,000 mother tongues still spoken today. In this presentation, we’ll show you how to conduct outreach to members of other cultures, how to speak with anyone, and how to get involved with our ever-growing movement. All it takes is a camera and a smile, so join us! This is more than a movement for language rights. It’s a movement for humanity. Tran Quang Hung

Tran Quang Hung realized his passion for languages a couple of years ago. He is a normal guy with a remarkable curiosity about how we should learn a language. He works as a doctor, a medical interpreter, and a linguistic blogger. He speaks Vietnamese, English, French, and is currently learning Italian. Feel free to contact him at [email protected]

The three-part strategy for improving listening skills Sunday, 10:00 Listening comprehension lies at the heart of language learning, but it is the least understood and least researched skill. And when it comes to improving listening skills, the practice varies. Though everyone has a personal taste, I think it’s a good idea to pile up the scientific evidence and put them into practice. Just like how we test the drugs’ effectiveness. In this talk, we will go through some listening myths, as well as how we can “diagnose” our own listening problems and fix them with the three-part strategy. Events

Events A variety of fun language-related activities Events 73

International Culinary Festival Everybody Thursday, 19:30, Esperanto room Get ready to tickle your tastebuds! With different cultures come different foods and drinks, so this is your chance to try some of them – and present your own culture to others! All participants are asked to bring samples of snacks, sweets or drinks from their home country, particularly the kind that are hard to find abroad. Each country will get a table to present stuff on and the entire room will turn into a bazaar of different flavours. We’ll provide paper and plastic plates, cups and cutlery so no need to bring that. Polyglot Karaoke Everybody Thursday, 21:00, Esperanto room We are preparing a special Youtube list called “PG 2018 requested songs” based on your suggestions which you have been sending to us in order to sing them at the event. We will have some dancers available to dance behind you on stage if you want to feel like a real star! Multilingual Concert Jonny M Friday, 19:30, Esperanto room JJonny M is a german rap-reggae singer that sings in several languages, including German, Esperanto, French, English, Spanish and Polish. He won the International Hamburg Song Contest 2015, has given shows all around the world (Japan, Brazil, Slovakia, Indonezia, Togo) and he is also well known in the Esperanto community. We’ll have a chance to enjoy his great multilingual concert. International Culture Evening Everybody Saturday, 20:00, Esperanto room During the Gathering, anyone or any group of participants can propose a sketch, a poem, a comment, an idea, a joke, some music or whatever else you would like to perform, and we’ll give you the stage for 1-3 minutes.This is a space open for everyone, seize the opportunity and show us your artistic talents! If you want to perform, please look for Cesco who will put you on the list. Special program items

Special program items This year’s program offers dozens of really interesting talks, but given that this is a “gathering”, we also want you to hang out with other participants and get to know more people. Therefore, we’ve prepared some special program items for you to make this simpler. Special program items 75

Speed Polyglotting Wednesday, 13:00, Esperanto room A fun and a very polyglotty way to get to know other participants! We will make two circles: an outside and an inside one, with the same number of people. You’ll have 5 minutes to get to know the person in front of you, using all the languages you have in common. Don’t worry if you don’t speak more than one or two, it will be even more fun to communicate with people you don’t share a language with. (English can be the last resort). Then the outside circle moves one step clockwise and you will meet a new person, and so on. Polyglot Games Wednesday, 20:30, Esperanto room The first day of the Polyglot Gathering is a perfect place for several fun games, such as: -Polyglot Tonguetwister Contest 2018 -Polyglot Scrabble (for teams of 4-6 people): each new word must be in a different language. -And some other games if there is time. Are you wondering what these games entail? Come to the registration on Wednesday between 1 pm and 6 pm and you’ll find out! Lightning talks Saturday, 17:00; Sunday, 16:00, Language mentoring room Lightning talks are a chance for anyone to give a quick presentation (up to 5 minutes) about a topic they’re interested in. So get ready for a quick succession of interesting tidbits. If you want to give a talk, just add your name to the list of speakers at the InfoPoint. You can show slides (but don’t have to) – just make sure you send them as PDF 1 hour before the talk to [email protected]. And remember: 5 minutes max! How to improve language education (not only) in the EU? Challenges, problems, solutions Thursday, 10:00, Assimil Room This special program will give the floor to several special speakers – who will portray their opinions, ideas and projects of good practice. And to all of you as well – we look forward to hearing what you have to share regarding the topic of this panel. First, 5 speakers will have 5-10 minutes each, to talk about their proposals. Afterwards, we’ll get to discussing the topic all together and see if we can find plausible ways of solving this puzzle. The side plan of this discussion is to create a „polyglot manifest“ of sorts, laying the groundwork for fundamental issues, recommendations and solutions in regards to the improving of language education. 76 Special program items

Language Challenges Sunday, 10:00 (Esperanto), 11:00 and 12:00 (Slovak), Amikumu room How much of a new language can a polyglot learn in 60 days? Let’s find out! Some participants have decided to enter our language challenge in which they have been learning Esperanto or Slovak (or even both) in 60 days before the Gathering. Our juries will help us find out who has achieved the greatest improvement. Check out the Language Challenges in the program (Saturday morning and Sunday noon) and come to cheer for the brave participants who will show their skills. Gufujo If you would like to enjoy your evenings in a calmer atmosphere than the social program offers, feel free to come to the Gufujo area (see the venue map). Gufujo is a quiet tea-room where people can talk or play some games, but without getting loud. Please note that alcohol is forbidden in the Gufujo area. Gufujos are very popular in Esperanto events, as they offer a great opportunity to chill out and be social in a calmer way. Coffee breaks

All talks start on the full hour (10:00, 11:00 etc.) and end at 15 to. In the 15 minute breaks between talks there will be fresh coffee and tea prepared for you in the Esperanto room.

Game zone

Do you fancy board games? Then the game zone will be your favourite place at the venue! There will be some boardgames ready for you, but you can also bring your own games and teach others how to play them. Stop by in the red area in the entrance hall and join in a game with other Gathering participants any time during the whole Gathering. Polyglot Breakfast Everyday, Esperanto room Join us in the Esperanto room every day from 9 to 10 for a common breakfast! You can bring your own food but it is not necessary as our gastro-partners will have delicious stuff ready for you. Fresh juices, sandwiches, toasts... Vegetarians and vegans will not be disappointed either! What awaits you is coffee, friends and languages, so come on over and enjoy these extra social moments. Visit the morning “Language café” for a unique opportunity to practise languages of the rarer kind with others! Special program items 77

No-English Zone

Why are so many talks at the Polyglot Gathering delivered in English? Why is this program book in English?? Why do most participants first address you in English??? If you have asked yourself these questions, then you should definitely check out the No-English Zone right outside the university! Anyone is welcome to come there and join the others, but... man darf halt kein Englisch benutzen! Es una zona sin inglés, alors ne parle pas en anglais, nie przedstawiaj się po angielsku, ne demandu en la angla, non cantare in inglese, не рассказывайте анекдоты на английском языке, skrátka, tu je angličtina zakázaná. :) Also, this is our unofficial picnic area of the Polyglot Gathering. Yes, with hammocks! Also, we hope you appreciate our effort this year to support no-English talks in the program :) Book-crossing If you have any language-related books (or just books in whatever language) that you don’t need any more, bring them to the Bookcrossing table, and feel free to take whichever other book you like. It is not based on a give-one-take-one principle, we all give and/or take, so just have a look at what others have already offered. Aligatorejo – Practice Languages Thursday, 17:00; Saturday and Sunday, 15:00, Esperanto room In Esperanto the word “krokodili” (to crocodile) means speaking in an Esperanto environment in your mother tongue, and the word “aligatori” (to alligator) means speaking in an Esperanto environment in a language that is neither Esperanto nor your mother tongue. Both actions should normally be avoided, because probably other people will not understand you. So “Aligatorejo” is a place organised in Esperanto festivals to practice other languages. At the Polyglot Gathering, the most spoken language will be probably English, so you can come to the Aligatorejo to alligator with other polyglots practising many languages, except English and your mother tongue(s). Polyglot Picnic Monday, 10:00 Are you leaving Bratislava on Monday or later? Then you should join us for our common picnic on Monday, starting at 10 am. The location will be specified in the closing ceremony. Everybody brings their own food, drinks, and something to sit on, and we can enjoy our last hours together. You can bring your luggage and leave for your planes, trains or buses directly from the picnic area. The location is the same as the previous year – Medická záhrada (Medical garden), en Špitálska street 2181/57, nearby the main bus station. Trips

Trips This year, the Polyglot Gathering is not happening just in the Gathering premises but also in all of Bratislava and even Slovakia! We have prepared interesting trips for you which are happening either during the Gathering or right after. The trips are only for those who signed up for them in their registration. If you have, see the meeting points and times below. Trips 79

3 countries trip Wednesday, 9:00 – 18:00 Bratislava is the only capital city directly bordering two other countries. The history of the city is inextricably linked with those two countries – Austria and Hungary. Hop onto our polyglot bus and join our local guide Michal for a full day of exploring three countries in one day! Together we will walk along the iron curtain towards the point where the borders of Slovakia, Austria and Hungary meet. The Hungarian town Mosonmagyaróvár and the Austrian Hainburg await us with their medieval charm, their rich history and delicious treats. Let’s stop for lunch at a traditional Hungarian csárda and enjoy Austrian-style Melange coffee while watching the mighty Danube flow past. We will finish our trip in a tiny and unique wine region for a glass of wine before heading back to Bratislava just in time for dinner and the opening ceremony!

Meeting point: in front of the main entrance of the University, 9:00 am. Please make sure you are not late. City game Wednesday and Sunday, 10:00 – 13:00 Young Viliam is reported missing for several days and the police are clueless. Relatives are fearing the worst as they know Viliam wasn’t just an ordinary student. Can you find out what has happened to him? This city game lets you discover Bratislava in the form of a playful adventure! In teams of 5 people you will receive a backpack with instructions and various items which will send you on a voyage of discovery through the old town of Bratislava as you unravel the mystery of what has happened to young Viliam. The Bratislava city game is a great chance to discover some of the hidden treasures of the city while having fun with your fellow polyglot friends!

Meeting point: in front of the main entrance of the University, 10:00 am. Please make sure you are not late. Walking tour Thursday and Monday, 14:00 – 17:30 If Bratislava was a person, she would be a polyglot! Throughout its past, Bratislava was buzzing with the sounds of German, Hungarian, Slovak, Yiddish and many other languages. Located in the place where the wide Hungarian plains meet the Carpathian mountains and the mighty river Danube, the city has been a place where cultures and languages meet since the times of the ancient Celts, Germans and Romans. Our guide Michal has designed this walking tour with polyglots in mind. Get an overview of the city and its surroundings from the top of Castle hill and walk through the medieval streets of the city to discover the rich, multilingual history of Bratislava! This tour is also a great opportunity to meet your 80 Trips

fellow polyglots and learn about important contemporary developments in the city, such as where to get the best local beer!

Meeting point: in front of the main entrance of the University, 14:00 (2:00 pm). You can also join the tour at 14:30 (2:30 pm) at the public bus stop “Most SNP” below the UFO bridge. We will be arriving with bus #88. Please make sure you are not late. Devín trip Friday and Saturday, 13:30 – 18:30 At the confluence of the rivers Danube and Morava, there sits an ancient castle overlooking the plains to the west. Perched atop a steep cliff, flanked by the two rivers on one side and by the Carpathian mountains on the other, this castle has been of vital importance for millenia. Devín castle is a symbol of national pride for Slovak people, but history and stunning views are not all it has to offer! A microclimate especially suitable for wine-making surrounds the castle and makes Devín home to a variety of white wine also called “Devín”. It is also the home of an endemic type of wine made from the fruits of the red and black currant plants. Join our half-day trip to Devín castle and see the place where once the iron curtain divided East from West. Listen to medieval stories of war and intrigue and finish the tour with a wine tasting of red and black currant wine in the shadow of the most famous castle in Slovakia!

Meeting point: in front of the main entrance of the University, 13:30 (1:30 pm). Please make sure you are not late.

❃ ❃ ❃

Is this the end of the Polyglot Gathering? It may be, but don’t worry, language lovers meet in other cool places too! This year (2018), you can meet many of the friends you’ve made in Bratislava, if you come to Montréal, Canada on August 21-26 for LangFest (check out http://langfest.org) or if you come to Ljubljana, Slovenia, on October 26-28, to attend the Polyglot Conference (www.polyglotconference.com). Don’t forget to share the polyglot love for languages, and hopefully, see you next year at another Polyglot Gathering… possibly somewhere else! Recommendations

Recommendations Food, coffee, wine, beer and clubs. Should any of those tickle your fancy, as they should considering the opportunity, the event and the location have plenty to offer! From traditional ‘bryndzové halušky’, coffee made by those whose area of expertise is not far off to say the least, Slovak award collecting wine, Brewmasters’ beer that deservedly receives the nickname of liquid bread to clubs in such places where the atmosphere experienced leaves little left to be desired. Slovakia welcomes you. 82 Recommendations

FOOD

Bratislava has a growing and thriving food scene with new restaurants opening up every month. There is something for everyone’s taste buds to be found here. Just be aware that Slovak waiters can sometimes be a bit unfriendly and there is a fair share of tourist traps to be found as well. As a general rule, avoid any restaurant or pub with the word “Slovak” in it – usually you will find sub-par food for above average prices there. Stick with this list of recommendations instead or ask the locals where they like to eat!

SLOVAK FOOD: Koliba Kamzík, Zelená ulica 5

A Slovak restaurant with a traditional interior inspired by central Slovak “koliba” cottages. Here you will find folk music playing and waiters/waitresses dressed up in folk costumes, ready to bring you typical Slovak dishes. Slovak cuisine is simple, yet hearty and filling. Our top traditional ingredient is bryndza – a type of fermented sheep cheese. Get the garlic soup, or our national food “Bryndzové halušky” – a type of potato gnocchi with sheep cheese and bacon on top.

REGIONAL FOOD: Prašná Bašta (The powder tower), Zámočnícka ulica 11

Located in what used to be the powder tower – a part of medieval city fortifications used to store gunpowder, this stylish restaurant is one which tourists often overlook because of how hidden it is. It is a traditional Bratislava restaurant in that it offers an overlap of Slovak, Hungarian and Austrian cuisine. Get the grilled goat cheese with caramelized pear as a starter and continue with an authentic “Wiener Schnitzel” or the grilled trout filled with herbs and almonds. Consider the Hungarian Somló cake for desert. Whatever you order here, you won’t go wrong!

VEGAN FOOD: Balans Bistro, Živnostenská ulica 2

Bratislava has a growing scene of vegetarian and vegan food. This place opened just a year ago but already you need a reservation if you want to have dinner or even lunch here. You can get your fill of delicious vegan treats in a cozy atmosphere here. Go for one of their fantastic burgers with fries & salad or try the burrito and wash it down with their lemonades or one of the local craft beers they offer.

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE: Re:fresh, Ventúrska Ulica 5

This place prides itself for being to cater to everyone, meat lover and vegan alike. Combined with a club in the basement, this is the place to hang out at for lunch or dinner, sit in the terrace and watch life go by while enjoying well-made food. Try whatever they have on offer as lunch menu for a Slovak lunch experience, or go for a Burger and some local craft beers in the evening. Recommendations 83

COFFEE

Bratislava has been veritably exploding with coffee places recently so it is hard to makea selection. Here is a brief overview of some places worth considering:

CAKE SHOP ZEPPELIN: Sedlárska ulica

Located in one of the busiest streets downtown, this charming place offers a wide selection of cakes, local pastries (try the Bratislava rolls!), good coffee and even a selection of souvenirs. Great place for people watching while enjoying your coffee.

HISTORIC KONDITOREI KORMUTH: Sedlárska ulica

This upscale place welcomes you with a wax figurine of Maria Theresa a “wait to be seated” sign and the rather steep price of 10 Euro for a coffee and cake. Is it worth it? Take a peek inside and decide for yourself – the interior with its vaulted ceilings decorated in 18th century fashion and enriched by portraits of famous people connected with Bratislava make it a truly unique place to feel like a noble lord or lady during baroque times.

MONDIEU: Panská ulica 27 AND Laurinská ulica 1

This franchise offers a chic interior and a wide selection of coffee, cakes and interesting food options. Foodies and coffee connoisseurs alike will be puzzling over the wide range of choices while the easier to please are already enjoying their cappuccino and watching life go by in the busy streets of downtown Bratislava.

BEER

The craft beer revolution has arrived in Bratislava several years ago and now it seems that a new beer pub is popping up every day. Slovakia is fast approaching the magical number of 100 breweries and with centuries of beer-making expertise under their belt, Slovak brewmasters are able to boast some fantastic and delicious brews! Here is a selection of the best places to have a great beer for a good price.

ŽIL VERNE: Panská Ulica 13

This beer place gets its name from a play on words with the name of french writer Jules Verne and the interior is decorated with scenes from his books. Located in a literal palace, it offers 9 beers on tap, some of them their own creation, the rest a well- balanced mix of Slovak and other regional beers. A friendly and knowledgeable staff help round up the overall experience. It is among the more expensive beer places in Bratislava, meaning you will pay 3 – 4 Euro per beer. 84 Recommendations

STUPAVAR: Prepoštská ulica 4

This no nonsense punk rock craft beer pub located in a historic building from the 15th century is packed full with locals each evening. The good news is that even if there are no free seats, you can just stand around in the hallways with your beer, almost like riding a crowded bus during rush hour. The beers are all by the local Stupavar brewery and ridiculously cheap, considering the location of the pub. A selection of typical beer snacks is available. Stupavar is perhaps the best place to mingle with locals and make new friends! Try their half-dark lager called “Jantar” or one of their IPAs!

STAROMEŠTIANSKA PIVOTÉKA: Gunduličova ulica 4

This is the place for dedicated beer lovers. A little off the beaten path and with a hard to remember name, this is where local beer enthusiasts go to indulge in their passion. With 10 beers on tap, mostly of local production, and a selection of typical beer food and snacks, prepare to spend some quality hopped up time here! Pro-tip: get the beer tasting menu of all 10 beers with a friend. Drink 5 each and then get one more to get the full overview of the selection while avoiding your beers becoming flat and warm!

STEINPLATZ: Kamenné námestie

Located in the middle of one of Bratislava’s biggest squares in what used to be underground public toilets, this bizarrely decorated place is as unique as it gets. With a terrace available and the underground part open until 4 AM, their selection of 10 beers on tap will no doubt satisfy your thirst no matter your taste! Try their very own “Einstein” Red IPA!

FOR ALCOHOL ADVENTURERS: Zbrojnoš pub, Michalská ulica 22

Next to Michael’s gate stands an artillery cannon. Enter the pub next to it to find yourself in a cool, stone basement type place which has seen plenty of rough nights play out to the sounds of heavy rock music. Continue deeper into the pub to find an underlit scoreboard on the wall with numbers next to the flags of various countries. Below the flags you see an ominous writing…”Still standing after 10”. Order the challenge and receive 10 shots of different types of alcohol. If you are still standing at the end of the challenge, you get a T-shirt and score a point for your country on the board. Do you have what it takes? WINE

Bratislava has a 2000 year old wine making tradition started by the Romans who once used the Castle hill as a military outpost. Wine production is concentrated on the southern slopes of the Little Carpathians starting in Bratislava and is home to some delicious white wine varieties. Recommendations 85

GRAND CRU WINE GALLERY: Zámočnícka ulica 8

This is one of the places where the owner and personnel make all the difference. You can find wines from the surrounding regions and a friendly and helpful staff which will help you make a choice just right for your taste, no matter if you are a total beginner in wine tasting, or a seasoned pro.

PINOT U BRUNA: Rudnayovo námestie 2

This cozy place hidden away behind the gothic cathedral offers escape from the hustle and bustle of the city and pairs it with a great selection of regional wines and typical wine snacks. You won’t find too many tourists here, because they usually can’t find it!

CLUBS

KC DUNAJ: Nedbalova 3

This club is located in what once was the only shopping mall during communist times. Situated on the 4th floor, it boasts a massive balcony with fantastic views of nighttime Bratislava. Depending on the day, you can find various concerts here at their stage or you can just hang out at the bar and enjoy their fine selection of beers, wines and cocktails. Great place to meet local people as well. Frequented by a young, alternative and stylish crowd.

SUBCLUB: Nábrežie armádneho generála Ludvíka Svobodu (below the castle from Danube side)

A dance club in a bomb shelter. What more needs to be said? Home to a crowd of dedicated clubbers you can expect to find Drum’n’Bass, Trance or other types of electronic music here. Go here to dance your night away in an unique environment!

TANKER CLUB: Nábrežie armádneho generála Ludvíka Svobodu (below the castle from Danube side)

Bratislava’s first party boat! Located a 5 minute walk upstream from the UFO bridge, this boat has a capacity of 400 people on the top deck and a further 400 people inside the lower deck. Depending on the day, you can find a wide variety of music being played here, ranging from Reggae to Hip-Hop and Electronic music. About organizers

86 About organizers

BEHIND THE CURTAIN OF THE POLYGLOT GATHERING

This might not be your first Polyglot Gathering or your first international event for language lovers (such as the Polyglot Conference or LangFest). You may be wondering who actually organises something like this, how and why. So we’d like to lift the curtain of the event for you a bit and share what this is all about. Polyglot Gathering, as well as similar polyglot events, are organised by volunteers who find it great that like-minded people can meet for a couple of days, exchange their know- how and just have a good time. The Polyglot Gathering was first organised by Judith Meyer, Chuck Smith and Martin Sawitzki, a group of friends, language enthusiasts, who liked the Polyglot Conference and wanted more of that type of event. In 2017, we took over (Peter Baláž from E@I and Lýdia Machová from Language Mentoring) because Judith, Chuck and Martin were busy doing other cool projects. Organising this event does not have any financial motivation on the part of the organisers. Whatever money is left from the Gatherings, is used for non-profit language projects that the non-profit E@I (Edukado@Interreto) does (see the next page for more info) and also to organise a language festival called Lingvafest’ (www.lingvafest.sk) for thousands of Slovaks in September (again, as a non-profit event, with free entrance). Nevertheless, it is a great amount of work to organise a 5-day event for 550+ participants, and it takes about half a year and is the joint work of many volunteers and endless hours of their time (e.g. finding the right premises, putting together the program of 100 speakers, making sure everyone gets the meals they wanted (with the right vouchers), organise the trips outside of the program, order T-shirts, badges, bags, print the sticker flags, communicate with the sponsors, make sure noone has paid too much or too little, prepare the social program with guests, keep the website and the social networks active, answer dozens of emails every week and much more... Our great thanks goes to the whole organising team!). Besides, being an organiser of such an event brings a huge legal and financial responsibility that the main organisers take upon themselves if anything should go wrong... We are happy to do all this because it makes sense to us. Because this community of language lovers is a great one and we want to keep it alive. If there’s something you find great, we’re happy if you let us know. If there’s something that you found not perfect, we also appreciate your feedback so we can improve next time, but also welcome your understanding, given that this is all done on a volunteer basis in our free time without any compensation. The Polyglot Gathering is an event from language lovers for language lovers. Thank you for being part of it and making it so awesome! :) About organizers 87

ABOUT E@I

Education@Internet is an international youth organization based in Slovakia, which hosts volunteers from a variety of countries in the scope of EVS. The organization paints the vision of a harmonious world which offers easy, efficient and effective means of communication with no limits, as such the organization strives to create, maintain and develop portals, projects, events as well as websites which support and strengthen people’s understanding of the multicultural world we live in and the thereby connected linguistic issues, as well as language learning portals and sites strengthening linguistic awareness. Esperanto is the official office language, yup, you read that right, it is the organization’s belief that a fully neutral language, which is complete, hence can be applied and used in all areas of modern life and is also easy to learn regardless of L1 (speaker’s first language), is the way onwards. You are likely to hear people from E@I communicate in Esperanto at the event. The projects of the organization more often than not carry a linguistic goal but also look at internet related issues, were you, for example to visit Slovake.eu, Russky.info, Mluvtecesky.net or Deutsch.info, you’d be presented with a free online course of the respective language, the websites are available in a number of languages and offer materials that can be readily used by teachers. In addition there is also Lernu! (lernu. net) an Esperanto course. Last but not least is Lingvo.info, a website which looks at languages, informs about the existing web-courses and shows that languages can be both useful and fun. Ever since 2013, E@I has hosted volunteers from numerous European countries, thanks to the EVS program of Erasmus+. It is this year that the scope is likely to grow as a project has been sent which, when accepted, will mean volunteers from South America and Asia. Allowing them to experience Europe first hand and bring their unique skill set to the ever growing, dynamic environment of E@I.

“In E@I we believe in free and accessible education – and we make it happen – quick and easy!”

ABOUT LÝDIA MACHOVÁ

Lýdia’s mission is to help anyone become a successful autodidact. She believes anyone can learn any language if they find the right method for themselves, making sure it is fun, intensive, effective and systematic. She has helped thousands of Slovaks and Czechs on their language learning journey and is eager to spread her mission on. You can follow Lýdia’s work at www.languagementoring.com (in English), www.jazykovymentoring.sk (in Slovak) or on Facebook / Instagram (Language Mentoring / Jazykový mentoring).